Cyber frauds abroad traced to Bareilly SIM cards; 10 agents booked

Bareilly (UP), Dec 20 (PTI) SIM cards illegally sold and activated here were allegedly used by the cyber fraudsters operating from several Southeast Asian countries to dupe victims in India and abroad, prompting police to register FIRs against 10 agents across the district, officials said on Saturday.

Senior Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya said the FIRs have been lodged at five police stations of the district following inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

The accused agents named in the cases are Ashok, Harvendra Singh, Raj Agrawal, Anmol Ratna, Subhash Chandra, Krishnakant, Harishankar, Sachin Kumar, Ravi and Umesh, he said.

According to the police, investigations revealed that cyber criminals based in Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos were using pre-activated SIM cards procured from Bareilly to allegedly carry out online frauds and related crimes.

Arya said a special verification and enforcement drive was conducted from December 5 to December 20 on the basis of a list of suspect agents shared by the I4C. During the drive, agents allegedly involved in the illegal sale of SIM cards used in cyber crimes and cases of cyber slavery were identified, questioned and proceeded against after scrutiny of documents.

Subsequent local investigations found that the SIM cards were issued on forged or incomplete documents, he added.

Legal action is being taken against the accused, the SSP said, adding that further investigation is underway to identify other persons involved in the racket. PTI COR KIS APL APL