They posed at times as a ‘jinn king’ (jiner badsha), at times as occult healers. On other occasions they cloned the mobile numbers of people their victims knew and lured them with offers of cheap rice, taking lakhs of taka. The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has arrested two of these so-called jinn kings on charges of swindling people out of money this way.
Md Rabiul Islam, superintendent of police at PBI Faridpur, gave the details at a press conference on Wednesday (21 October). He said the two arrested men had made confessional statements before a court under section 164.
According to police, Rashidul Islam, a rice trader from the Binodpur area of Rajbari Sadar upazila, fell victim to the gang. On 25 March 2024 he received a call from a cloned number of an acquaintance, ‘Bijoy Babu’, offering to sell him 33 tonnes of rice at a low price. Then, citing an urgent need for money, the fraudsters took a total of Tk 375,000 (3 lakh 75 thousand) in several instalments through bKash and Nagad to various numbers. When the rice did not arrive on time, Rashidul Islam contacted the real Bijoy Babu and realised he had been cheated.
A case was first filed at the local police station, but the mystery remained unsolved for eight months. After the complainant objected to that outcome, the court ordered PBI Faridpur to investigate. Under the direction of Superintendent Md Rabiul Islam, and with the investigation led by Sub-Inspector Majidul Haque Khan, the case was solved about a year later through analysis of technology and financial transactions. Two members of the gang were then arrested in raids in Bhola and other areas.
PBI sources said the gang registered SIM cards under false identities and threw them away after each fraud. Among their main methods were calling late at night in a woman’s voice, posing as a ‘jinn king’ and frightening people, and offering cures for intimate illnesses while posing as occult healers, to take money from ordinary people.
The gang had about five members. Some called people and drew them into the trap, some supplied mobile financial service (MFS) numbers, and others collected the money from different areas.
Superintendent Md Rabiul Islam said the arrested men had given details of various frauds in their statements to the court. He urged the public to inform law enforcement quickly about tempting offers or suspicious phone calls, or if they fall victim to fraud.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report