Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has detained a member of a fraud ring from Madaripur on Friday on charge of embezzling about Tk 1.5 lakh from the family members of the July-August movement martyr Sifat Ullah.

The arrestee is Md Akash Bepari, 21, son of Iskan Bepari of Chowdhury Kandi village in Madaripur, said Additional Superintendent of Police Azad Rahman (CID - media wing).

A team from the Cyber Intelligence and Risk Management Wing of the CID conducted a series of raids in the Surjanagar area under the Shibchar Thana in Madaripur district and arrested a suspect on Friday.

During initial interrogation, the accused confessed that they are a gang of 14 to 15 individuals who have been extorting money from victims through fraudulent schemes for an extended period.

The process of filing a case against the detainee is currently underway.

The CID’s monitoring team learned through various news reports that the family of Sifat Ullah in Kishoreganj had fallen victim to fraud. Sifat Ullah, a 19-year-old resident of Munyarikanda village in Pakundia upazila, was a student at Mauna Emdadul Uloom Jamia Islamia Madrasa in Sreepur Upazila, Gazipur. He was killed during the recent uprising.

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Following his death, several organizations provided financial assistance to his family. However, on October 10, the family reported to the Cyber Monitoring Unit that fraudsters had cunningly taken Tk 1,56,150 from them.

The group, posing as government officials from the Finance Ministry, contacted Sifat's family, claiming they were calling to facilitate a donation.

They requested the family's bank account number and ATM card information, and then asked for the OTP by discussing the serial number needed to process the donation. After obtaining the OTP, the fraudsters withdraw money from the card.