5 held in cyber fraud case, 200 SIMs used for mule accounts seized

Guwahati: Assam Police CID has busted an organised network involved in cyber fraud and arrested five individuals. CID has recovered 200 active SIM cards, 1000 unissued SIM cards, 54 bank passbooks in the names of different persons, among others.CID SSP Saurav Jyoti Saikia said preliminary findings show that several of the seized SIMs were linked to cyber fraud cases already registered in other states. “The 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,” he added.SIMBOX operations involve using devices with multiple SIM cards to bypass high international calling rates, routing VoIP calls through local mobile networks to appear as local traffic. This illegal setup, often used for telecom fraud and spam, is frequently linked to organised crime and “mule” accounts for laundering cybercrime proceeds.The SSP said police arrested the accused on Sunday during coordinated raids across multiple locations in Kamrup district. The accused have been identified as Moinul Hoque, Moon Kalita, Kangakan Kalita, Hirak Jyoti Kalita and Mostakim Ahmed.“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.The SSP added that during the raids, police seized KYC documents of over 1,000 people, signalling at potential large-scale identity theft and misuse. “Investigations revealed that the suspects were illegally handling approximately 200 SIM cards that violated telecom regulations, forming part of a larger inter-state syndicate,” he added.“They collected personal identification documents of vulnerable women under false pretences, and used those to activate mule SIM cards and open mule bank accounts,” Saikia said.The SSP said the investigation is in full swing to unravel the complete network, trace beneficiaries of the mule accounts, identify victims whose documents were misused, and establish connections to specific fraud incidents across states.