Assam online trading scam: Accused hiding information during interrogation, says police

Guwahati, October 31 (IANS): The accused in the multi-crore online trading fraud - Dipankar Burman has been facing marathon interrogation by a team of Assam Police officials in Guwahati.

However, according to sources, he has been hiding a lot of information regarding the scam and he has evaded key questions during the investigation team.

Sources said that there is a sharp contrast between the statements of Burman and his girlfriend who is also under police custody for her alleged involvement in the trading scam.

Moreover, police have arrested a Chartered Accountant (CA) who had worked for Burman and the investigation team found a difference between his and Dipankar Burman’s statements as well.

A senior police official said that the Hawla transaction was involved in this huge scam and the CA accepted this fact during the interrogation. But, according to sources, Burman denied involvement of Hawala in his business which allegedly looted crores of money from general people on the pretext of giving them much higher returns against their investment.

Burman was arrested three days ago from a homestay in Goa and he was brought to Guwahati on Tuesday.

Burman has been at large since August and he has been successful in evading arrest since the reports of a huge trading scam conducted by his company DB Stock Limited surfaced. He allegedly looted crores of money from the general public who invested in his trading company on the pretext of getting much higher returns. It is learned that at least 21,000 people in Assam invested in Burman’s company DB Stock Limited.

Police launched a manhunt to nab Burman; however, he could not be arrested.

On Sunday, the Director General of Police (DGP) G.P. Singh took to X handle and wrote, “Finally, Dipankar Burman arrested at Goa. The run ends. Congratulations Team @GuwahatiPol.”

According to police sources, the whereabouts of Burman could be traced by the investigation team a few days ago and Assam Police officials travelled to Goa to catch the accused. With the active cooperation of Goa Police, Dipankar was finally arrested. Guwahati Police Commissioner Diganta Borah said, “Earlier, Burman’s parents and his two girlfriends were arrested and police found clues of the accused tracing his mobile number and social media accounts.”

Following the arrest, police seized cash and gold from the possession of Dipankar Burman and as per the official statement, cash of more than Rs 27 lakhs was seized from his temporary residence in Goa along with some gold ornaments.