2 arrested from Bengal, Jharkhand for taking out money from bank accounts of several Delhiites

Two men have been arrested from West Bengal and Jharkhand for allegedly taking out money from bank accounts of several persons in the national capital after obtaining the One Time Passwords or OTPs, officials said Monday.

The accused used to initiate transactions, then call the victims and seek the OTPs sent to them by the banks and transfer the money to different e-wallets, they said.

The accused have been identified as Binod Kumar Modi (26), a resident of Durgapur in West Bengal and Rikki Kumar (23), a resident of Dumka district in Jharkhand.

According to the police, on June 8, 2017, one Jagdish Chander filed a complaint at Kirti Nagar police station in which he stated that Rs 2,42,949 had been withdrawn from his bank account although no transaction was done by him.

After investigation, it was revealed that the money was transferred to different e-wallets.

When the verification of the addresses of the beneficiaries, who hailed from Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal were conducted, they were found to be fake, a senior police officer said.

During investigation, it was also revealed that a part of the cheated amount was transferred through PayTM, which was linked with an account belonging to Binod, who is based at Durgapur, Monika Bhardwaj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (west), said.

On February 2, the police arrested Binod from Durgapur.

During interrogation, he disclosed that his cousin Ajeet Kumar Modi was the kingpin of the gang and till now they had cheated several people, the officer said.

Some of the amount was also transferred to an Ola wallet linked with an account, which was in the name of Rikki Kumar. On February 6, Rikki was arrested from Dumka in Jharkhand, she said.

Further investigation revealed that one Ajeet Kumar Modi is the gang leader and Pritam Kumar and Vicky Kumar were his associates.

The gang members used to call the bank account holders and ask them for their account details along with the OTPs, Bhardwaj added.

The victims were mainly from Delhi and NCR.

Binod has seven accounts in different banks, while Rikki has three bank accounts. The Cyber Cell of Rachakonda (Telengana) was also searching Binod, she said.

The other accused are still at large and efforts are being made to nab them, police said.