Two arrested by PBI in 'tantrik-kabiraj' fraud ring that cloned trusted phone numbers to swindle lakhs
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) in Faridpur has arrested two members of an organised gang of so-called tantriks, kabirajs and 'kings of jinn' that exploited people's faith, cloned the mobile numbers of trusted persons and swindled lakhs of taka through various tricks.
The two arrested men are Md Rajib (28), son of Ramzan Sheikh of Mulpatta village under Borhanuddin police station in Bhola district, and Suman Hawlader (26), son of the late Moslem Hawlader of Fulkachia village.
At a press conference at the PBI Faridpur district office at 11am on Wednesday (21 October), PBI Superintendent of Police Md Rabiul Islam confirmed the arrests and described the case.
It was told at the press conference that on 25 March 2024, at around 10am, gang members cloned the mobile number of Bijoy Babu and called Rashidul Islam, a rice trader at Binodpur Bazar in Rajbari district. As the call came from a familiar number, the trader suspected nothing.
When the gang offered him 33 tonnes of rice at a cheap price, Rashidul expressed interest in buying, trusting the business relationship. He was assured from the cloned number that the rice would arrive by 4pm and was asked to send the money quickly.
Rashidul first sent Tk 50,000 to a bKash number. He later paid a total of Tk 375,000 through several bKash and Nagad numbers.
But when no rice arrived by the afternoon, he went to Bijoy Babu — who said he knew nothing about it. The victim Rashidul then realised he had been defrauded.
Rashidul Islam filed a case as complainant at Rajbari Sadar police station over the incident. However, as the station police could not make headway with the case, it was transferred to the PBI eight months later at the complainant's request.
Superintendent of Police Rabiul Islam said that, acting on intelligence, trusted sources and technology, PBI police arrested Suman Hawlader first and then Rajib from Kunjerhat under Borhanuddin police station in Bhola on the night of 19 October.
The PBI said the arrested men lured people with promises of solving difficult and secret diseases, success in love, unhappiness in married life and various other problems. Sometimes posing as a 'king of jinn' and sometimes as a tantrik or kabiraj, they used technology to embezzle money through fraud.
The accused have given confessional statements under Section 164 before the court, describing these crimes in detail, the PBI said.
The incident once again underlines the importance of verifying before sending large sums of money even when a call comes from a familiar number — because, with the misuse of technology, even trusted numbers are now becoming tools in the hands of fraudsters.
