Kolkata, Nov 22 (IANS) Fraudsters hired over a thousand bank accounts to siphon off the West Bengal government’s financial assistance to higher secondary students for purchasing tabs, investigations so far have revealed.
Sources in the police said that the investigating officials have confiscated 1,190 accounts and legal process has started so that the scam proceeds deposited there can be returned to the state exchequer.
The total number of arrests made so far in this connection is 27.
The modus operandi of the scam involved the funds released from the state exchequer for the purchase of tabs being diverted to the hired accounts from the bank accounts of the genuine beneficiaries. The money released from the state government exchequer was thus credited to the accounts of fraudsters instead of going to the beneficiary students.
As per the latest information available, the investigating officials have found the roots of the cyber-forgery which was operating from Chopra in the North Dinajpur district of the state. Their style of operations had been somewhat similar to that conducted by the Jamtara gang of Jharkhand.
As numerous incidents of phishing across the country have been detected with links in Jamtara, the place is often nicknamed the “phishing capital” of the country.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that these fraudsters were enjoying the patronage of some political parties. “Often they are hiring guest houses in the city and conducting operations from there taking some people in confidence. They also frequent the shopping malls,” the Chief Minister said.
Meanwhile, the state government has alerted all district authorities to adopt extreme caution in the disbursement of funds under the Kanyashree project following the tab scam.
A notification has been issued by the state Women and Child Development, and the Social Welfare Department where it was claimed that the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has flagged a potential security breach on the Kanyashree portal, which may have compromised specific stakeholder accounts.
The department has also formed a six-point initiative to prevent similar phishing attempts.
Kanyashree project is the monthly dole scheme for the girl students in the state.
–IANS
src/dpb
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by TodayIndia.news and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of TodayIndia.news We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, TodayIndia.news takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
