Assam: Conmen Caught Duping Sootea Youths in Name of Govt Schemes

In an example of police-civilian cooperation, two conmen were nabbed by the police in Assam’s Sootea on accusations of fraud with the help of their victims on Friday. The accused targeted youths in the name of enlisting them as beneficiaries of government welfare schemes.

The duo, identified as Amarendra Pator from Raha and Pabitra Bordoloi from Juria, both in the Nagaon district of Assam, had been operating in Nag-Sankar village in Sootea coming under the Biswanath district, police said.

Their modus operandi included coercing young men and women in the locality into opening bank accounts at a Bank of Maharashtra branch in Biswanath Chariali. This was in order to enlist them as beneficiaries of various government welfare schemes, the accused allegedly told the victims. Initially, they would also pay the charges for opening the account, the victims recollected. However, later they would get hold of the ATM cards that came with the bank accounts and keep them.

Victims Take Action

This practice however, raised suspicions among some of the youths who understood that something was amiss in the whole thing. They reached the bank branch and upon some enquiry, got to know that their bank accounts had witnessed transactions worth several lakhs.

One of the victims said, “They took away our ATM cards which was suspicious. Some of us reached the branch to get our passbooks updated. There we found transactions exceeding Rs 5 lakhs within 24 hours. The branch manager also suspected us of being involved in shady activities and scolded us.”

“We called them to ask what was going on and when they could not answer properly, we knew something was wrong. As such, we called them here and got them arrested,” another added.

Enraged, they hatched a plot to get the fraudsters nabbed. They tactfully called them to Biswanath Chariali and got the police to detain them. The police are keeping them in detention and processing them for further legal action, mentioned the officials.

Also Read: Guwahati: Bank Fraud Worth Rs 200 Cr Uncovered, CMD Arrested