Police busts dating-fraud racket; arrests 17 people, including 16 women from Minto Park area

Kolkata Police busted a major financial fraud racket operating under the guise of a dating app service in the Minto Park area. Detective department-led operation managed to arrest a total of seventeen individuals, sixteen of whom are women. They were charged with running a sophisticated scam that preyed on individuals by promising companionship and eventually extorting large sums of money.

The fraud syndicate had reportedly established a dedicated "office" in the Minto Park locality from where they were running the illicit operation. They used a dating application to establish contact with potential victims. They would lure men with "sweet-talking" and the promise of companionship, ultimately trapping them.

The arrested women, who range in age from 19 to 35, were identified as Shampa Mukherjee (35), Moumita Paira (27), Uma Ram (28), Bulti Das (28), Mamata Halder (21), Khushi Sarkar (19), Sumi Bose (34), Tania Mondal (22), Puja Saha (27), Aditi Chakraborty (28), Sumi Das (23), Kajal Singh (26), Binita Middya (27), Puja Mullick (32), Priti Ram (Pant) (28), and Alesh Balmiki (30), along with one man, Aritra Saha (33). 

The crackdown followed a series of complaints received by the police from multiple victims who the group had financially defrauded. Police also seized several electronic gadgets, various bank-related documents, and transaction registers.