Kolkata, July 29 (IANS) West Bengal Police said on Tuesday that they have arrested a couple from Darbhanga in Bihar against whom over 900 cases of cyber fraud have been registered across the country during the last two years.

The police identified the arrested couple, Shubhajit Ballav and Riya Haldar Ballav, who cheated over 900 people in several states, including West Bengal.

The Cooch Behar police arrested the couple from a hotel in Darbhanga city of Bihar late Monday. They hailed from Ranaghat in Nadia district. Earlier, the couple was arrested once by the cops of the Jangipur Police Station in Murshidabad district. However, after getting bail, they resorted to cheating again.

On Tuesday, Cooch Behar District Superintendent of Police, Duteeman Bhattacharya, told media persons about the couple’s arrest. “Two cases were filed in the Sahebganj and Tufanganj police stations of Cooch Behar. While investigating the case, the husband and wife were arrested from a hotel in the Darbhanga area of Bihar last night. We brought them to Cooch Behar on transit remand today,” Bhattacharya added.

The police said they used to commit fraud by targeting customer service points in front of various Border Security Force (BSF) outposts near the border.

The investigation revealed that the couple was committing money fraud by targeting people who came to the Customer Service Point (CSP) located near the BSF Border Outpost (BOP). The fraudsters used to call them from unknown mobile numbers pretending to be BSF officers, company commanders, or inspectors.

“They used to say that if they sent some money, it would be returned in cash or on commission. The victims later went to the BSF camp and realised that such a person did not exist,” Bhattacharya said.

After entering Shubhajit’s phone number on the National Crime Records Portal, it showed that 877 FIRs mentioned that mobile number in 2024. There were 68 cases in 2025. Out of these, 19 cases were filed in the Cooch Behar district. And in the 68 cases of 2025, the couple is accused of cheating the people of Rs. 48 lakh 15 thousand.

According to police records, there are 183 cases registered against them in Uttar Pradesh, 107 in Rajasthan, 77 in Telangana, 60 in Maharashtra, 55 in Delhi, 54 in Bihar, 49 in Tamil Nadu, and 43 in West Bengal. Apart from this, 258 cases have been registered against the couple in the different Union Territories.

–IANS

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