Assam man held for Rs 1,071 crore cyber fraud with China links

Gujarat police have arrested a 25-year-old man from Assam in connection with 1,090 cybercrime cases across India involving Rs 1,071.55 crore. The accused, identified as Rafikul Alam, was arrested from Barpeta in Assam following a three-day surveillance operation by the Gujarat Cyber Centre of Excellence.

According to Superintendent of Police Vivek Bheda, Alam acted as a financial handler for a network linked to alleged Chinese operators. He routed money from digital arrest and other frauds through 1,754 bank accounts, splitting large sums into smaller transfers within an hour before converting them into cryptocurrency. The police recovered details of 23 cryptocurrency wallets from Alam's phone with transactions exceeding Rs 16 crore.

Alam communicated with alleged Chinese handlers through WhatsApp and Telegram, exchanging scanner details, passwords, and cryptocurrency wallet information. The Cyber Centre of Excellence said it intervened in ten ongoing digital arrest frauds across Gujarat and other states, preventing victims from transferring money. Three FIRs have been registered against Alam under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.