Chandpur District Detective Branch (DB) police have arrested two members of a gang that cheated people out of money by advertising hilsa and other goods for sale on Facebook. Five mobile phones and SIM cards used in the fraud and Tk 60,000 in cash were recovered from them.
The media cell of the Chandpur Superintendent of Police's office announced this on the afternoon of Friday, 21 August. The two were arrested in separate raids in Kalia, Narail, on the night of Thursday, 20 August.
They are Md Habibur Rahman, 41, of Noagram in Purulia union of Kalia upazila, Narail, and Md Rakibul Hasan Nayan, 36, of Chandpur Madhyapara in the same union.
How the scam worked
Police said the district police began investigating the frauds on the basis of a general diary filed with Chandpur Sadar Model Police Station and complaints from various victims. The DB traced the gang with the help of information technology.
Investigators said the gang posted attractive adverts for hilsa and other products on various Facebook pages. When people contacted them to buy, the gang took money through mobile banking and bank accounts on the promise of delivery, then kept the money without supplying any goods.
A DB team led by SI Md Ansar Ullah and Md Ziaul Haque Zia carried out the raids with help from Kalia police. In the first raid on Thursday night, Habibur Rahman was arrested in Noagram, and later the same night Rakibul Hasan Nayan was arrested in Chandpur Madhyapara.
Initial questioning revealed that the arrested men had been running the fraud with accomplices on social media for a long time. Police have found that several others are involved, and operations are under way to identify and arrest them.
A case has been filed under the Cyber Security Act and relevant sections of the Penal Code against the two arrested men and absconding and unidentified accused. The two were later sent to court.
Chandpur Superintendent of Police Md Mizanur Rahman said people buying online should check carefully before dealing with strangers or Facebook pages. Police operations to identify and bring those involved in fraud to justice will continue, he said.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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