Online loan frauds: 14 arrested in major crackdown in Assam

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 15, 2024

In a major cybercrime crackdown, 14 persons were arrested from Moirabari, Laharighat and Bhuragaon areas of Morigaoan district and Hengerabari of Guwahati city in the wee hours of Wednesday busted for borrowing online loans in the name of various individuals affecting their credit history.

Of the arrested, Atabur Rahman is the mastermind of the entire gang, police said.

Other gang members are: Ayub Raihan Siddique (Bhuragaon), Shamim Ahmed (Bhuragaon), Mehdi Alam (Bhuragaon), Afzalur Rahman (Bhuragaon), Hafijul Rahman (Laharighat), Ashraful Islam (Laharighat), Motiur Rahman (Moirabari), Nekibur Rahman (Moirabari), Ashadul Islam (Moirabari), Inamul Haque (Moirabari), Akram Hussain (Moirabari) and Kabbal Bin Rashid (Besamara, Nagaon).

The operation which was conducted from 1 am on Wednesday by 16 special police teams was led by Morigaon additional superintendent of police (crime branch) Samiran Baishya.

“They are online frauds. They procure SIM cars of various telecom providers in fake names and offer credit card loans to people who are looking for loans. In this way they steal the personal data of individuals and borrow online loans from various banks and financial institutions and other agencies,” additional SP Samir Baishya said.

“They defrauded AXIS Bank by Rs 10 crore. They also borrowed loans in the name of some Supreme Court advocates, and various business establishments without their knowledge,” Baishya said.

“They also defrauded the people by sending unauthorized payment links via SMS. These bogus URLs will look identical to the original URL,” Baishya further said.

“The gang has come to light during our investigation of online fraud. In the last one and a half years, we arrested more than 200 frauds. But there is no let-up of the situation,” he added.

Baishya also said investigation is on and more people are likely to be arrested in connection with the case.

Police also seized a large number of incriminating documents, including 396 SIM cards, 25 ATM cards, 14 chequebooks, three laptops, 34 mobile phones, 11 fake PAN cards, and two printer machines. 

On July 14, 2023, Morigaon police busted three gang members- Shekabuddin (24), Inzamamul Islam (26) and Wakibul Islam (23)

As many as 1000 SIM cards along with various other electronic devices used for such online frauds were also recovered from one Inzamul Islam, a resident of Morigaon.

Since then, over 200 arrests have been arrested from various parts of Morigaon, Nagaoan and Guwahati in connection with online fraud.