Phone fraud arrest

TT, Malda, Dec. 9: Police have held a man who had been harassing bank officials for the past six months by sending them anonymous letters and calling them up and identifying himself as a CBI officer sometimes and even as a militant in some other instances in a bid to blackmail them.

Sukumar Mondol, 40, was caught after local people managed to confine him in a telephone booth around 10 last night. They informed Englishbazar police station and he was taken away for questioning.

Recently, a number of bank managers had met police superintendent Arnab Ghosh and informed him about the continuing harassment. Ghosh asked the police to probe the matter.

Debashis Dey, the manager of the Malda branch of HDFC, said he had received threat calls twice on Thursday. "I got a call on my mobile as well as the branch landline twice yesterday. The caller said he was a CBI officer and that he was probing charges of financial corruption against me. I have been posted in Malda three months ago. This man has been calling me since last month. He even told me once that there were charges of corruption against me at our Calcutta office," Dey said.

The branch manager of Corporation Bank, Indrajit Sarkar, said he was also called. "The man called me and said he was a CBI officer. Once he even threatened to decapitate me. He has sent more than one anonymous letter to the branch. He even sent fake court papers to the branch. He has done this with officials of other banks as well. We had informed the police superintendent about this. I am glad that he has been tracked," said Sarkar.

Police sources said Mondol was a resident of Uttar Chandipur in Manikchak. "He stayed in a rented room in the Malanchapally area of Malda town," a police source said.