Seizure of over 400 ID cards blows lid off cybercrime ring

Guwahati: Assam police on Friday night busted an alleged cybercrime network in the Kalgachia area in Assam’s Barpeta district and seized a massive cache of identity documents, smart cards and electronic devices during the special operation. One person was also arrested during the operation.The arrested individual has been identified as Rabbul- Al Amin, son of Johirul Islam. Amin is a resident of Khelli village, under Kalgachia Police Station’s purview. Kalgachia police station OC Hitesh Haloi said during investigation, Amin was found to be involved in the cybercrime network. “A case has been registered, and the accused was produced before a local court,” the OC said.The OC said as the investigation was ongoing, details about how the crime was carried out was yet to be ascertained.The seized items included 293 Aadhaar cards, 101 PAN cards, 109 Ayushman Bharat cards, 14 SIM cards, 10 voter ID cards, 17 registration certificates (RCs), four ATM cards and two driving licences. In addition, police also recovered 44 blank smart cards, two pen drives, an external hard disk, one laptop and two mobile phones from the location.The police suspect that the recovered materials suggest possible misuse of personal identity documents and digital tools, but the investigation is still underway to determine the full extent of the alleged network and its operations.Samiran Baishya, additional SP (crime), said, “The investigation is still on, but we arrested Amin because he ran a shop in his village, and him keeping such a massive cache was very suspicious.”