Bhubaneswar: It was the unusual lifestyle at the building at Rasulgarh in Odisha capital that proved to be the nemesis for three members of the inter-state Jamtara gang. Pradhum Mandal (20), Krishna Mandal (19), both natives of Girdih district, and Chetlal Mandal from Dhanbad district were arrested by the Crime Branch on Saturday.
According to police sources, they used costly mobile phones and other electronic gadgets, roamed around in big rented cars and ordered food lavishly after they took the house on rent on December 28 last year. And it is from this operating centre that they made phone calls to 4.38 lakh people, identifying themselves as bank officials, in past one month to defraud them on the pretext of updating their KYC (Know Your Customer) details.
This gang is known for siphoning money from bank accounts of unsuspecting people by collecting their bank details through these means. At least 171 complaints were filed against these natives of Jharkhand for crimes committed in 20 states.
ADG (CB) Sanjeeb Panda said the gang members would tell their targets that the latter need to update their KYC in the links given, else their banking services would be discontinued The trio used 33 different mobile numbers of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal circles and frequently changed mobile phones and numbers using pre-activated SIMs to escape police scrutiny.
Around dozen mobile sets, including an iPhone, two laptops, a tablet and a few debit cards were seized from them. The CB, however, is yet to ascertain the amount of money swindled by the gang.
The Jharkhand-based Jamtara gang, which operates across India, has a large network in Bhubaneswar also. It has been active in cities having a strong internet use to dupe the people through cybercrime, the sources said.
In 2020, the Commissionerate Police had released a video warning the people of Bhubaneswar of the gang’s activities. The video showed a gang member demanding the ATM number from a State Bank of India (SBI) customer and threatening him for not doing so.
