NEW DELHI: The Gujarat CID has arrested a 25-year-old man from Assam who allegedly masterminded 1,090 cybercrime cases involving Rs 1,071.5 crore across India and maintained links with China-based criminals.The accused, Rafiqul Alam, was arrested by the CID’s cyber cell in Barpeta, Assam, following a technical investigation into an alleged international cybercrime network, according to news agency ANI.Investigators said Alam was allegedly responsible for routing money obtained through cyber fraud, including “digital arrest” scams, through thousands of bank accounts before converting the funds into cryptocurrency and sending them to China.The Gandhinagar-based Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCE) said Alam transferred tainted money through 1,754 bank accounts across India, breaking large amounts into smaller transactions to evade financial surveillance. Police separately said the investigation traced the money to 1,758 accounts.“The money received by the accused through digital arrest or cyber frauds was split and transferred to 1,754 bank accounts across India within an hour by converting large amounts into small amounts to evade the attention of financial surveillance agencies,” the CCE told ANI.Police said Alam was allegedly connected to China-based criminals through WhatsApp and Telegram, where financial information and details of cybercrime operations were exchanged.“The accused exchanged financial information (scanner, user ID, password, crypto wallet, modus operandi of the crime, etc.) directly with Chinese criminals through WhatsApp and Telegram,” the CCE said.Investigators found 23 cryptocurrency wallets on Alam’s mobile phones, through which around Rs 16 crore had been transacted, the CCE said.The agency said the transactions established a link between cryptocurrency and a China-based gang. Investigators also found alleged illegal cryptocurrency trading carried out through the “chip seller” app.“Based on technical analysis and the victims’ statement, a team from CCE visited Barpeta city and conducted a three-day recce of the house of the main money launderer in disguise and arrested him along with his technical gadgets,” it said.
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The CCE described Alam as the alleged “mastermind” of an international gang.“The accused has been involved in a total of 1,090 cyber crimes across the country amounting to Rs 1071.5 crore. His mobile phones also had gaming account transactions,” the Gujarat police unit said.