Kolkata: The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the West Bengal Police has dismantled a multi-state cyber fraud gang and arrested its mastermind from Gujarat, officials announced on Saturday. The arrest followed a series of raids in Gujarat, leading to the apprehension of Shah Darahil Pareshbhai from the Bhavnagar area.

Identified as Shah Darahil Pareshbhai, a resident of Bhavnagar, Gujarat, the arrested individual is believed to be the mastermind of the gang operating across 3-4 different states, including Jharkhand. Their modus operandi involved duping individuals from various states through phone calls, revealed a CID source. The arrest and subsequent raids were prompted by a complaint lodged by a retired serviceman who fell victim to an unknown caller's fraud in November 2023.

According to the complaint, the victim received a call from an impersonator posing as a bank official. "The victim shared his OTP with the unknown caller after the accused earned his trust. Following this, lakhs of rupees were debited from his bank account instantly," officials elaborated. Subsequent investigation revealed that the fraudulent call originated from Jamtara, Jharkhand. The funds were siphoned from the victim's bank account using a mobile virtual wallet application named ‘Quicksilver’. The fraudsters then used the funds to purchase gift cards from popular shopping apps such as Flipkart and Amazon through the virtual wallet application.

"The purchased gift cards were later used to buy various electronic gadgets from these shopping applications," the CID source disclosed. The delivery of these electronic gadgets, ordered online using the fraudulently obtained gift cards, was directed to multiple states, including Haryana and Gujarat. The fraudsters used different mobile numbers for each order. 

After extensive technical surveillance, police officials were able to trace the suspects, leading to the arrest of the mastermind in Gujarat on Friday. The suspect was subsequently brought to West Bengal and will be presented before the court.

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