New twist in ₹91 lakh cyber fraud case; Pradhan Nagar Police take arrested woman to bank in Siliguri for investigation

Siliguri, 30th October: Pradhan Nagar Police have intensified their investigation into a cyber fraud case involving more than ₹91 lakh, allegedly carried out by blackmailing people through video calls on social media. On Friday, police took the arrested woman, Manisha Mandal (19), to the bank on Sevoke Road where she holds an account to investigate the large deposits and transactions made through it.

Police are also examining whether anyone associated with the bank had a role in the alleged fraud. However, no official confirmation of any bank employee’s involvement has been made so far.

Manisha Mandal was arrested on 26th October under Operation Cyber Prahar. She was produced before the Siliguri court the following day, which granted police five days of remand.

According to police sources, the investigation began following a complaint registered on the National Cyber Crime Portal in September. After nearly a month of investigation, police detected suspicious transactions linked to cyber fraud in the woman’s bank account.

Preliminary findings indicate that a total of ₹91,21,808 was deposited into the account. The allegation is that people were blackmailed through video calls on social media and money was extorted from them.

During the visit to the bank, Pradhan Nagar Police gathered information about account transactions and the procedures used to deposit and transfer the money.

The investigation is ongoing to trace the source of the alleged proceeds and identify the wider network involved in the fraud.