Cooch Behar police have nabbed a couple involved in siphoning money from customer service points (CSPs) of different banks, especially those located near the international borders.

Subhajit Ballav and his wife, Ria Haldar Ballav, residents of Jafarnagar–Halalpur in Nadia district, were arrested by a police team from a hotel in Dharbhanga, Bihar, on Monday. They were brought to Cooch Behar on Tuesday.

Dyutiman Bhattacharya, superintendent of police, Cooch Behar, said the duo have several cases pending against them in different states and also in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) portal.

“In May and June this year, two cases were filed in Tufanganj and Sahebganj police stations of our district. The complaints mentioned that a person had called the CSPs, asked for a money transfer, but later went silent,” he said.

Bhattacharya said the couple targeted CSPs near the border outposts of the BSF.

“They would call the CSPs, impersonating as a BSF official or personnel and ask them to transfer the money while promising that once the representatives of the CSP visit the nearby border outpost, they would be paid the money in cash, along with a commission,” said the district police chief.

“The CSP owners would transfer the money, considering that the call was from BSF personnel. Later, when they would visit the outpost referred to over the phone, they could not find the concerned person. This is how the couple used to cheat the CSPs,” he added.

After a probe, the Cooch Behar police found that Subhajit’s phone number had been flagged in the NCRB portal. In 2024, they had committed as many as 877 cases of fraud across the country, while in 2025, they were involved in 68 cases, which included 19 in the Cooch Behar district.

“The couple has cheated CSPs in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and some other states. In 2025, they have siphoned over ₹48 lakh so far,” said a source.

“Three cell phones have been seized from them. They will be taken into custody for further interrogation,” the source added.