Patna, Feb 6 (IANS) Police in Bihar’s Madhubani district have busted an international cyber fraud gang operating in coordination with fraudsters based abroad.

Four members of the gang were arrested on Thursday, and a large cache of electronic equipment and cash has been seized.

During the operation, police recovered seven SIM boxes, 136 mobile phones and SIM cards, several electronic devices, and Rs 1.68 lakh in cash, along with other equipment used in cyber fraud.

The crackdown was carried out based on specific intelligence inputs and involved a coordinated operation by teams from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Economic Offences Unit (EOU), District Intelligence Unit (DIU), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Nagar Police Station, and Cyber Police Station.

According to Madhubani Superintendent of Police (SP) Yogendra Kumar, the first raid was conducted at a mobile repair centre located near the railway station under the Nagar police station area.

Subsequent raids were carried out at the residences of Mandeep Kumar (23) at Tirhut colony, Mohammad Ehsan, Raushan Kumar and Vikas Kumar and all four were arrested.

SP Yogendra Kumar said that Mandeep Kumar, with the help of Raushan Kumar, was operating an illegal telecom setup from his room at home at Turhut colony in Madhubani.

“Using SIM boxes and telecom devices of private companies, he was collaborating with cyber fraudsters based in China, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and other countries through a trunking system to carry out cyber fraud,” the SP said.

Police revealed that the accused were running an illegal telecom exchange, through which international Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls were converted into local voice calls, enabling cybercriminals to cheat people in India while masking their international origins.

During interrogation, Mandeep Kumar disclosed that Roshan Kumar had assisted him in supplying seven SIM boxes and SIM cards, for which he was paid Rs 800 per SIM.

The SIM cards were allegedly obtained in the names of unsuspecting individuals and were destroyed after deactivation to erase digital trails.

All recovered equipment has been seized, and a case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the law.

Police said further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network and trace financial transactions linked to the international cyber fraud racket.

Madhubani police has recovered seven SIM boxes, several empty SIM cards of VI, AIRTEL and JIO, 18 mobile phones, two TP-Link electronic devices, two AIRTEL Xstream Fiber routers, two TP Link TL-R 5408PE-AC 2.5G POE, one TP Link charger, one USB charging station, four mobile motherboards, 25 charging cables, six computer cables, 10 other cables, one laptop, one SBI debit card, one trolley bag, and a total of Rs 1,68,000 in cash and other electronic equipment and documents.

–IANS

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