People from all walks of life have fallen prey to cyber crime gangs operating from Bihar's Nalanda and Sheikhpura districts.

J.C. Mohanty, a Rajasthan-cadre IAS officer and joint secretary in the Government of Rajasthan, received a call on his official cellphone in April. The caller introduced himself as an official from the bank Mohanty holds an account in. He provided him details of his account and asked him to disclose his personal identification number (PIN) or his account would be closed.

An unassuming Mohanty gave him the detail. His suspicions were aroused when he received a text message on his cellphone, within minutes, telling him that some amount had been deducted from his account.

He lodged a police complaint, which traced the caller to Nalanda in Bihar. Mohanty could not believe he had been talking to a fraud in Nalanda. Similar calls were alsomade from Jamtara in Jharkhand.

Anupama S. Nilekar, a Bihar-cadre IPS officer, too, had fallen prey to the gang two years ago. She lodged a police complaint in Patna following which a few members of the gang were arrested from Nalanda and Sheikhpura. An NRI in Texas, US, too, was duped by the Nalanda gang. Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj received a complaint on his WhatsApp from the man, prompting him to initiate action against the frauds.

'The list of victims is increasing by the day,' said Katarisarai police station house officer (SHO) Alok Kumar. The gang also change their modus operandi. These days they get hold of numbers of callers who try their luck in the ' Che-hra Pahchano, Inam Pao' contest on television and dupe gullible people by offering SUVs and luxury cars as lottery prizes, Alok said.

Earlier, Nalanda superintendent of police (SP) Sudhir Kumar Porika said two members of the Katarisarai-based gang were nabbed from their hideouts on Tuesday.

He received a tip-off about such gangs operating in Nalanda and Sheikhpura when he was Araria police chief. Porika said he received a complaints from teacher's eligibility test (TET) examinees after he assumed charge in Nalanda. The criminals were getting hold of their phone numbers and calling them up to extract money on some pretext before vanishing.

'We will initiate stern action to check the gang's operation,' the SP said. Police records suggest over 100 persons had been arrested from Nalanda, Sheikhpura and Nawada districts in the past year. He didn't rule out involvement of government departments and telecommunication companies in the fraud.

Katarisarai has also emerged as a major centre for fake sex-related drugs. Residents said that over 70 people were arrested from Katarisarai during a raid conducted by then Nalanda SP Nishant Kumar Tiwary (now posted in Purnea) and a huge quantity of fake drugs seized. 'Manufacture and supply of sex-related fake drugs has made Katarisarai the highest income-generating post office in Bihar,' a senior official said.