Guwahati: Move over Jamtara, a hitherto-known cybercrime hub in Jharkhand from where criminal gangs siphon off money and give police a run for their money. Morigaon, a town which stands tucked 77 Kilometers away from Guwahati in Assam, is fast emerging as the next cybercrime hub. A total of 226 cyber criminals have fallen into the police dragnet in the last one and a half years, says Assam police data.
The activities of cyber criminals, who operate from isolated corners of Morigaon's riverine areas, have caught the police's eyes. For unsuspecting police officials, it appeared improbable to believe that such a big number of subaltern youths are involved in the crime.
Cyber fraud worth crores of rupees has taken place from nondescript places of Morigaon. The outcome of the operations carried out by the STF set up by the Assam Police against cyber criminals surprised police higher-ups.
Additional superintendent of police of the Crime Branch of Morigaon Police Station, Samiran Baishya, who supervised crackdown on cyber criminals, said, "In the last one-and-a-half years, the Morigaon police have been able to arrest a total of 226 people involved in cyber fraud. During the period, we have been able to seize a total of 7,718 SIM cards, 1,104 ATMs, 217 fake PAN cards, 247 fake Aadhaar cards, 174 mobile phones, 16 laptops, 448 cheque books. A total of 36 cases have been registered. ”
Baishya further revealed that Morigaon police charge-sheeted in 50 per cent of the cases registered against criminals. On the other hand, The Assam Police has been able to refund more than Rs 1 crore to the victims of cyber fraud through legal procedures.
The police Crackdown
During a raid on September 18, Morigaon police arrested 10 people. At the same time, the police managed to arrest people involved in cyber crime in separate raids conducted at Moirabari and Lahorighat in Morigaon.
Baishya added, "We have been conducting a campaign against cyber criminals for a long time. As part of that, raids were conducted at around 16 places in Morigaon that night. Most of them had committed frauds with various banks. The racket siphoned off money in the name of credit cards and loans by giving fake information. "
Referring to the September 18 operation, the ASP said an accused, identified as Rukun Uddin, was arrested from Lahorighat. He has obtained around 14 PAN cards in the names of different persons from several states of the country.
Meanwhile, Ehiya Ahmed, who was undergoing treatment at the hospital at that time, was earlier arrested by the Maharashtra police in a money laundering case. He also informed that these people were also involved in the Rs 10 crore fraud with Axis Bank.
Baishya said police seized 20 mobile phones, fingerprint machines, Rs 40,000 in cash, 15 debit cards, 24 PAN cards and 80 SIM cards from the arrested men.
Victims mostly from South, North India
Mostly such activities are centred around Moirabari and Lahorighat areas of Morigaon, the official said. “We have conducted several raids in the riverine areas around these two locations. We are trying our best to stop the activities. We have been able to register 36 cases so far. Most of the victims are from states outside Assam. South India and north Indian states have the highest number of victims,” he added.
Modus operandi
Cyber fraudsters have been looting people from states outside Assam by using fake PAN cards, fake Aadhaar cards and SIM cards. According to Baishya, fraudsters obtain fake Aadhaar and PAN cards by using the names and identities of the residents of those states of South India and North India. They deposit fake PAN cards and Aadhaar cards in banks such as L&T, Axis Bank, Aditya Birla.
He continued, “Since one has to deposit one's ID to get a credit card, these IDs are not from Assam. They make fake Aadhaar cards by putting their photographs in the name of people outside Assam. They deposit them and take loans from the bank." According to the senior official of Morigaon police, cyber fraudsters in the area have siphoned off Rs 50-60 crore during this period using the same method.
Who helps fraudsters in crimes?
The ASP said Aadhaar card operators and SIM card distributors are aiding fraudsters. “A total of 7,718 fake SIM cards have been recovered. These SIM cards are sold at a price of Rs 700 to Rs 800 each in the other states. We have also arrested people from Bihar and Rajasthan in such cases,” he pointed out.
Morigaon police returned more than Rs 1 crore fraudulently from the bank account to the victims. Baishya added, “Fraudsters are also involved in digital arrests. We have come across two or three such cases where criminals were involved in such a case. We have recently seized a bank account of a person from Lahorighat in Morigaon. A sum of Rs 1.17 crore was frozen.”
The challenge
According to Baishya, fraudsters quickly change modes of operations. “They apply fresh means of cybercrime from time to time. We have also stepped up surveillance methods and are on constant vigil to tackle criminals,” he said.
