14 cyber criminals duping banks, NBFCs nabbed in Assam

Guwahati, May 16: Fourteen cyber criminals, who had duped banks and NBFCs of crores of rupees, have been arrested in simultaneous operations in Guwahati and Morigaon.

The operation came after several complaints from financial companies like Axis Bank, Piramal, Mobikwik, RuPay, Amazon, etc. Axis Bank lost around Rs. 10 crore in the fraud.

“Last night, a massive drive was launched against cyber criminals in different locations of Moirabari, Laharighat, and Bhuragaon police stations in the areas of Morigaon and Guwahati. Fourteen people have been arrested so far. Two were caught in the Hengrabari area of Guwahati,” Morigaon Additional SP Samiran Baishya said.

Altogether, 396 SIM cards, 11 PAN cards, 14 chequebooks, 25 ATM cards, 34 smartphones, three laptops, and two four-wheelers have been seized.

Baishya said the gang used to procure SIM cards from other states and, using fake documents, avail loans from the NBFCs by impersonating another person.

The loans were never returned, and the person in whose name the loans were taken used to get the notices from the NBFCs.

Over the last one year, 203 cyber criminals have been caught in Morigaon and its adjoining areas.

Officials said that following the crackdown, the criminals were now taking shelter in Guwahati. A good number of these criminals had earlier worked outside, where they learnt the tactics to commit financial fraud.

Indian banks have witnessed a surge in fraudulent activities, with a staggering Rs. 5.3 lakh crore being siphoned off by criminals in the last ten years. Private and public sector banks collectively reported a total of 4,62,733 fraud cases during the period.