Kolkata Police Bust Cyber Fraud Racket, Over 2,000 SIM Cards Seized

PTI, Mar 19, 2026, Kolkata: Kolkata Police has busted a cyber fraud racket duping people on the pretext of digital arrest and seized a huge number of SIM cards, several SIM boxes, multiple mobile phones, and other devices. Police have also discovered that the cheated money was converted into cryptocurrency and found a link to Malaysia in this case.

According to police, on October 18, a retired engineer from Parnasree, identified as Bidhan Ghosh Dastidar, lodged a complaint alleging that he had been duped by unknown cyber criminals, who kept him under digital arrest and compelled him to transfer a sum of Rs 3.01 crore to four bank accounts.

He told the cops that on October 5, 2025, he received a call from a person claiming that a parcel booked with Blue Dart courier service in his name contained some illegal items. Hence, the matter is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

On October 14, Dastidar received a call from a man informing him that a case had been initiated against him. After a while, Dastidar received a video call from a man who introduced himself as Amit Kumar, a CBI officer. The accused compelled the complainant to keep the video call going for a few days and transfer money worth about Rs 3.01 crore to four bank accounts. The fraudster also told Dastidar that after an inquiry, if the money was found legitimate, it would be refunded.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Jt. CP), Kolkata, Rupesh Kumar, on Wednesday informed that during the investigation, it was found that about 30 bank accounts were used to siphon off the money, including four primary bank accounts.

During February, police arrested two persons identified as Abir Sheikh alias Monirul Islam, who was already in the custody of Bidhannagar City Police in connection with another cyber fraud case. Another accused, identified as Md. Amjad, was arrested from his residence at Patwari Bagan in Amherst Street, and police seized 12 SIM box devices along with more than 2,000 SIM cards, mobile phones, a laptop, and a few routers.

On Tuesday night, police picked up another accused, identified as Arpan Sikdar from Asoknagar, and seized six SIM box devices along with 130 SIM cards. Police are continuing the probe to find others involved in the racket.