Assam: 5 nabbed for 'involvement' in interstate cyber crimes

Guwahati, Mar 9 (PTI) Five people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in interstate cyber crimes, from Kamrup district of Assam, police said on Monday.

Saurav Jyoti Saikia, SSP at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said police arrested the accused on Sunday during coordinated raids across multiple locations in the district.

"The operation targeted an organised network involved in cyber fraud, illegal procurement and distribution of SIM cards, and misuse of personal documents to create mule accounts for financial fraud," he said in a statement.

Investigations revealed that the suspects were illegally handling around 200 SIM cards that violated telecom regulations, forming part of a larger interstate syndicate, Saikia said.

During the raids, police seized KYC documents of over 1,000 people, signaling potential large-scale identity theft and misuse, the statement said.

The personnel also recovered 54 bank passbooks and around 1,000 unissued SIM card covers.

"Preliminary findings show that several of the seized SIMs were linked to cyber fraud cases already registered in other states. Usage analysis points to their involvement in SIMBOX operations – a technique used to route fraudulent international calls through local networks, helping scammers evade detection and traceability," the SSP said.

"They collected personal identification documents of women under the guise of enrolment, and fraudulently used those to activate mule SIM cards and open mule bank accounts – tools commonly used to launder proceeds of cybercrime," Saikia said.

Investigation is in full swing, he added. PTI TR RBT