German officials in Kolkata on Monday. Express
German authorities on Monday submitted documents related to the victims of an alleged cyber fraud case to CID for a detailed probe. A Bidhannagar court also allowed the German public prosecutor to record his statement — on behalf of the alleged victims — with a magistrate, under Section 164 of CrPC on August 9.
The German officials arrived in Kolkata on Monday morning to pursue a case in which some of their nationals were cheated by people who claimed to be computer technicians. Five people, working at a call centre in New Town, have been arrested. They have allegedly cheated people of a total of Rs 15 crore. “The accused had applied for bail. Court rejected their prayer today and remanded them to 14-ay judicial custody,” said an official. Senior CID officials met with the German team.
“It is certainly going to be fruitful for the investigation. They have submitted details of bank accounts and complaint letters… We are ensuring a detailed probe in this case,” said ADG (CID) Rajesh Kumar.
“They (accused) basically used to contact clients pretending to be system experts. They would get access to their computer through software. They would then promise to update their systems and dupe them of their money,” said an official.
On June 7, Richa Pipulwa, Vikramjeet Pandher, Akash Singh, Nilesh Rastogi and Subhrajit Pal were arrested for allegedly cheating several people from Germany, Sweden, Indonesia and Canada through a call centre at Webel IT Park in New Town. They were booked under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) of the IPC, as well as the IT Act.
