Four persons, including three employees of a private bank, have been arrested at Dinhata in Cooch Behar district for allegedly withdrawing cash using the credit cards issued to at least two account holders without their knowledge.
Police suspect a racket was behind the fraud and more people were involved in it.
Sources have said Anup Saha, a trader at Sahebganj Road in Dinhata, has an account at the bank. Around three weeks ago, he got a phone call from the bank and was told that he had withdrawn Rs 4 lakh through his credit card and he should repay the amount.
“The trader was surprised as he does not use a credit card of the bank. He filed complaints with us and the bank,” said a police officer.
The investigators found out that another accountholder had lodged a similar complaint with the bank. Someone had obtained a credit card in his name and withdrawn Rs 48,000.
“We suspect an organised racket is involved in the case and there is a chance that some employees of the bank are also with them. We could arrest four persons. They had filed fake applications for credit cards on behalf of the account holders, collected the same and used those for different purposes. The account holders, on the other hand, had no inkling of the fraud,” the officer said.
The four arrested persons were Mehboob Rehman, a credit card agent, Biplab Majumdar, Nisith Singha and Koushik Chakraborty, all employees of the bank.
Firearms seized
Police arrested two men with an improvised firearm and seven rounds of live cartridges at Sitai in Cooch Behar district on Thursday night. Both are residents of Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar district and the arrests were made by Sitai police.
The police intercepted the duo while they were riding a motorcycle without number plate. The law enforcers searched both and seized the firearm and the live cartridges.
BJP leader attacked
A North Dinajpur district BJP leader was assaulted by a group of miscreants in Raiganj on Thursday night.
Bhakta Roy, who is the former district president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, has been admitted to the Raiganj Government Medical College and Hospital.
The BJP accused a former Trinamul councillor and his son, who is also a youth leader of the ruling party, of assaulting Roy.
District Trinamul leaders denied the charges.
“None of us was involved in the attack. The BJP is unnecessarily trying to play politics over the issue,” said a party leader.
BJP workers held demonstrations in Raiganj and different parts of the district, demanding the immediate arrests of the attackers. They also held a road blockade in Raiganj.
Additional reporting by Kousik Sen