According to the PBI, the gang had been carrying out the fraud for a long time.
Gang’s alleged mastermind, Md Mozammel Haque Kabir. Photo: Courtesy
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Gang’s alleged mastermind, Md Mozammel Haque Kabir. Photo: Courtesy
A man has been arrested in Chattogram for impersonating officials of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Detective Branch (DB) to target complainants in court cases and fraudulently take money from them.
The PBI Chattogram district unit arrested the gang’s alleged mastermind, Md Mozammel Haque Kabir, 50, within 48 hours of a case being filed, said Superintendent of Police MKH Jahangir Hossain.
He disclosed the information at a press conference at his office at 11am today (26 September).
Jahangir said the gang collected complainants’ mobile numbers from various courts in Chattogram and then contacted them by introducing themselves as investigation officers from the PBI, CID or DB.
“They gained the complainants’ trust by promising to submit investigation reports in their favour and then demanded money for vehicle hire and investigation expenses,” he said.
They also collected details of allegations in the relevant cases, which helped them convince victims that they were genuine investigation officers, the PBI said.
The gang then collected varying amounts from the victims through bKash and Nagad, he added.
According to the PBI, the gang had been carrying out the fraud for a long time.
After genuine PBI investigators became aware of the fraud, they began efforts to identify and arrest the perpetrators.
However, the suspects proved difficult to track because they used SIM cards registered in other people’s names.
In the latest incident, PBI Chattogram Sub-Inspector Md Abu Sufian filed a case as the complainant against unidentified fraudsters at Raozan Police Station after they fraudulently took money from a complainant in one of his investigation cases.
The PBI took charge of the investigation after the case was filed on 23 September.
A team led by investigation officer Sub-Inspector Robi Chandra Das collected and analysed intelligence to identify the suspects’ whereabouts.
The team later raided the Gouripur area under Sudharam Police Station in Noakhali and arrested Mozammel. Devices allegedly used in the fraud were recovered from him.
During preliminary questioning, Mozammel admitted his involvement in the fraud and provided information about other members of the gang, the PBI said.
Based on the information he provided, the PBI is questioning complainants in other cases who may have fallen victim to the gang to uncover further incidents.
Operations are also underway to identify and arrest the gang’s other members, the PBI said.
The case includes allegations of fraudulently misappropriating money, cheating by impersonating others, falsely identifying oneself as a government official and misappropriating money through breach of trust.
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