285 arrested in Assam cybercrime raids over Rs 2.72 Cr Jan Dhan fraud
The Jan Dhan scheme was launched to allow poor people to open zero balance accounts so that all benefits can be transferred directly to them through banks.
(Representational Image)
Guwahati, Aug 29: Though the Assam government has launched several schemes for the benefit of poor people, a substantial amount of money is going into the hands of criminals and one Jan Dhan zero balance account recorded transactions of Rs 2.72 crore in little over a year. There are also reasons to believe that a portion of money is going abroad.
Police sources told The Assam Tribune that police forces of all the districts have started operations against such cybercriminals and in Morigaon district alone, 285 persons involved in cybercrime have been arrested so far. But that is the tip of an iceberg as such criminal activities are going on in most of the areas dominated by people of minority communities.
The Jan Dhan scheme was launched to allow poor people to open zero balance accounts so that all benefits can be transferred directly to them through banks. Such accounts can be opened only by people living below the poverty line.
But it was found that one such account recorded transactions of Rs 2.72 crore in a year, which is quite abnormal. The account belonged to a person in the Mikirbheta area in Morigaon district. The account recorded transactions to various parts of India, mainly Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Further investigations are on in the case.
Commenting on the modus operandi, sources said that criminals sitting elsewhere in the country train up local youths belonging to a particular community through video calls to get involved in such crimes. The trained ones then look for illiterate gullible beneficiaries of government schemes.
The criminals then take the documents of beneficiaries and open bank accounts in their names. When the money of government schemes is deposited in the accounts, the criminals take away a major chunk, giving a small portion to the actual beneficiaries.
Sources said that a substantial amount of money collected by cybercriminals go outside the State and further investigations revealed that there are traces of money going to even Bangladesh and Pakistan.
“We do not know whether the money is going to the coffers of terrorist organisations and if this is the case, it is a very serious cause for concern,” sources added.