Guwahati: In a series of operations, Assam police have busted huge gangs of cyber criminals in Morigaon district. These gangs fraud hundreds of individuals and government institutions across the country and illegally obtain several crores of rupees using fake identity cards and phone numbers.
The Morigaon police arrested a notorious cyber-criminal, Aminul Haque, on June 24 from the Goroimari area of the district. The arrested cybercriminal Aminul Haque has been a prominent figure involved in various cybercriminal activities. Aminul runs a retail shop for Airtel mobile service and used fake IDs to obtain hundreds of phone numbers which were used in cyber crimes.
During the operation, Morigaon police, headed by Additional SP (Crime) Samiran Baishya, seized a staggering 238 fake SIM cards from Aminul’s possession. Addl SP Baishya told the media that arrested Aminul used one photograph in several fake ID cards and obtained 18 SIM cards. Likewise, he used another name and photograph to create several fake ID cards and obtained 17 SIM cards.
The cybercriminal used only 5 to 6 photographs, created multiple fake ID cards, and obtained 238 fake SIM cards using these counterfeit IDs. Earlier, Morigaon police arrested two masterminds of the cyber criminal’s gang active in the district. A Vodafone distributor Mustakin Ali was arrested from the Mayong area followed by the arrest of another cybercriminal Ashraful Islam, who was a SIM card retailer. Addl SP Samiran Baishya said that these two criminals jointly obtained 24000 fake SIM cards using fake IDs. Whereas Mustakin Ali obtained 14000 fake SIM cards and Ashraful Islam obtained 10000 fake SIM cards using fake IDs.
Earlier in May 2023, Morigaon police arrested cyber-criminal Inamul Hoque. The arrested cyber-criminal obtained loans totalling about Rs 22 lakh from two private financial institutions in the names of various people using fake IDs and phone numbers.
169 SIM cards, 11 PAN cards, 5 Aadhaar cards, seven bank account passbooks, one stamp and seal of a doctor, several user ids, passwords and other potentially incriminating papers were seized by police from Inamul’s possession.
During the investigation, we found that Inamul Hoque had taken loans of around Rs 22 lakh from two private financial companies in the name of different persons. He had taken the loan amount from financial companies by using fake Aadhaar and PAN cards. He used his own photo and made 11 PAN and Aadhaar cards in the name of different persons,” said Addl SP Samiran Baishya.
Earlier in March 2023, Morigaon police arrested notorious cyber-criminal Mushabir Hussain, who procured bank loans amounting to Rs 18,30,692.00 by using fake AADHAR and PAN card . In February, Morigaon police arrested cybercriminals Isahaque Ali, Rabbul Islam and Gyass Uddin.
The three accused are residents of Moirabari’s Xogunbari village. A total of 1,720 SIM cards, a Pulsar bike bearing registration number AS-02A-H5609 and 11 mobile phones have been seized from their possession. This tree cyber criminals cheated many people across the country by using fake SIM cards. So far the Morigaon police have arrested 55 cyber criminals in the district.
Interestingly all the arrested cyber criminals are Muslims. Cyber crimes have increased in the Muslim-dominated areas of the Morigaon district over the last 5-6 years. In September 2019, Assam police arrested Saiful Islam, with more than 5500 mobile SIM cards and 20 mobile phones, who looted cashback offers of different online shopping companies and diverted the amount to his Paytm account. The arrest was made in Saharia village under Moirabari police station in Morigaon district.
