bKash fruadster arrested in Cox’s Bazar

The Detective Branch (DB) of Police on Thursday arrested a member of a gang who allegedly used bKash to cheat two vice-chairmen of Ukhiya upazila. He convinced them to send Tk 2.40 lakh to his bKash account to transport relief items from the Red Crescent Society. 

DB Inspector Manos Barua said that a team of DB police used digital technology to track down and detain the suspect him from Holiday intersection in Cox's Bazar municipality on Thursday afternoon.

The suspect, Mohammad Nur Malik, 34, son of late Abdul Karim of Chakaria upazila, is the owner of Nur Electric at Palakata Maizghat Bazar.  

Manos Barua said that on September 7, Nur phoned Ukhiya upazila vice-chairman Jahangir Alam and female vice-chairman Kamrun Nesa Baby, and introduced himself as a Red Crescent Society officer.

Nur told them that if they want to receive 200 packets and 150 packets each of relief items allotted for the ultra poor in their areas, they have to pay Tk 700 per packet through bKash as a transpotation charge.  

Then the two vice chairmen sent Tk 2.40 lakh to the bKash account that was given to them.  When they phoned for confirmation of receipt, they found that the phone was switched off. 

The following day, September 8, they filed two cases at Ukhiya police station citing the bKash fraud.  The officer in charge of the police station notified the district DB police to detain the culprit. 

The DB managed to detain the suspect, and are trying to see if others are involved in the scam, said Manos Barua.