“So far, 11 people have been arrested and 93 FIRs lodged in connection with the tablet scheme scam. Out of the 16 lakh students of Class 10 and 12, 1,911 students have been defrauded,” ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar told reporters.
According to Sarkar, the fraud was conducted by cybercriminals operating from multiple states, including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand.
“The investigation has uncovered evidence suggesting the involvement of interstate gangs. Some of the arrested suspects have reportedly admitted to being part of these operations, and documents seized during the raids have confirmed their participation in previous cyber scams, including siphoning off funds from other Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes and the national scholarship portal,” he added.
The state police has set up Special Investigation Teams (SITs) to probe the scam and are working closely with law enforcement agencies in other states. They are investigating whether there was any manipulation of the system at the local level or if internal collusion helped the fraudsters, he added.
“We are trying to find out whether these miscreants manipulated the system, or there was any involvement of people at the ground-level, or whether someone acted as a mole in the system to help the fraudsters,” Sarkar said.
