# Gujarat Police arrest two in Rs 1.5 crore cyber fraud, 4,500 SIM cards seized 2026-08-18T09:41:08+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet (2 source reports) Gujarat Police have arrested two men from West Bengal in connection with a Rs 1.5 crore cyber fraud in Ahmedabad, uncovering a large international network. The accused, identified as Imran Ali Pyada and Injamul Mujibar Molla, were arrested for allegedly operating a 'boss scam' in June where a company employee was tricked into transferring money. Police recovered Rs 1.3 crore and eight electronic devices, including a device that could hold four SIM cards simultaneously. Investigations revealed the network used about 4,500 SIM cards and malware developed in China, with links to Hong Kong and a call centre in Islamabad. Stolen funds were routed through multiple countries. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal showed 251 complaints linked to the accused's numbers. Police said the network operated on a 'cyber crime as a service' model, providing ready infrastructure to other criminals. Meanwhile, in a related operation, Gujarat CID arrested Rafiqul Alam from Assam, linking him to 1,090 cyber fraud cases involving Rs 1,071.5 crore in illegal transactions, which were converted to cryptocurrency and sent to China. His phone yielded 23 crypto wallets with transactions worth Rs 16 crore. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both reports, from the same outlet, focus on the scale of the network and the international links, with a sensationalist tone emphasising numbers like 4,500 SIM cards and 1,090 cases. The first story highlights the technical methods, funds moved to 1,754 accounts in one hour and conversion to crypto. The second story foregrounds the recovered money (Rs 1.3 crore) and the 'cyber crime as a service' model. Neither story questions policing efficacy or systemic gaps, the coverage is uniform in presenting police actions as effective. The key takeaway is the sophistication of these networks, which combine domestic SIM farms, Chinese malware, and crypto laundering. Watch for whether the I4C portal data leads to more arrests or policy changes on SIM issuance. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 sensationalist - bazaar.businesstoday.in (sensationalist) Leads with 'big revelation' and Rs 1,071.5 crore figure, emphasises scale and technical detail - bazaar.businesstoday.in (2) (sensationalist) Focuses on 4,500 SIM cards and international links, drama-first framing with recovered money This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-19T14:14:59+00:00. Tags: CID Crime Cell, Gandhinagar, Gujarat Police, Rafiqul Alam Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-police-arrest-assam-man-in-rs-1071-crore-cyber-fraud/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/gujarat-police-arrest-assam-man-in-rs-1071-crore-cyber-fraud/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/