Doomdooma: Police have arrested 11 youths for their alleged involvement in an organised cybercrime network operating in Assam’s Tinsukia district, Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Dinesh Pratap Singh Rathore confirmed on Friday.
The accused, aged between 22 and 31, were allegedly involved in the use of mule bank accounts, withdrawal of suspected cyber-fraud proceeds through ATMs and online betting activities, police said on Friday.
“We came to know through our reliable information that an organised cybercrime network has been operating in different ways for a long time. Tinsukia Police raided different places on Thursday and arrested 11 people, who were forwarded to judicial custody. Investigation has been started and lawful action will be taken as facts and findings come,” Dinesh Pratap Singh Rathore, Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime), Tinsukia, said.
The arrests followed coordinated raids by different police teams during the intervening night of September 10 and 11, based on specific information, preliminary enquiry and verification of technical intelligence.
Police sources said prima facie evidence indicated the suspected involvement of the accused in a network allegedly receiving and moving money through mule accounts.
“Digital evidence has been found in their possession. Mobile phones, ATM cards, passbooks and diaries in which they maintained accounts have been recovered,” Rathore added.
A mule account is a bank account used by another person or group to receive, transfer or withdraw money, often for a commission, to conceal the actual source or beneficiary of the funds.
Investigators are examining the seized devices, banking documents and other materials to trace the suspected flow of cyber-fraud proceeds.
One of the alleged masterminds, 31-year-old Amit Singh, was sought to be taken on police remand for further investigation.
The other accused were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court in Tinsukia and sent to judicial custody.
Police sources said the suspected network may have inter-district and inter-State links.
The investigation is now focused on identifying the alleged masterminds, facilitators and other persons connected with the network, besides establishing the extent of its operations and financial transactions.