Police detain 8 over OTP fraud linked to voter list revision in Bengal's Barasat

Kolkata, Nov 15 (PTI) Police on Saturday detained eight people from Barasat in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district for allegedly sending OTPs over phones under the pretext of filing enumeration forms for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls here, a senior officer said.

Police were investigating whether it was part of a fraud scheme or linked to any political outfit, he said.

The incident occurred in Hemanta Basu area of Kadambagachi in Barasat, he added.

"The accused had set up a camp with banners under 'Lokbandhu Party'. It was drawing crowds for offline form-filling. Suspicion arose when OTPs, required only online, were being collected from voters. We received complaints from locals and apprehended these people," he said.

The eight had come from Delhi, he said, adding that investigations were ongoing to determine the purpose of collecting OTPs and whether it was used for recruiting party members.

"Their mobile phones and several documents were seized. Our officers are cross-checking the purpose of their visit to Bengal," he said. PTI SCH MNB