Kolkata: Bidhannagar Cyber Crime Police have arrested 20 people in two separate drives targeting the illegal procurement and misuse of SIM cards and bank accounts allegedly used to facilitate cyber fraud, police said on Monday.
In the first case, three point-of-sale (POS) agents were arrested for allegedly issuing multiple SIM cards without following prescribed verification procedures. Five SIM collection agents were subsequently arrested, taking the total arrests in the case to eight. Police suspect the SIMs were later used in cyber scams.
In a separate drive based on data shared by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), police arrested 12 people allegedly involved in operating mule bank accounts and facilitating illicit transactions. ATM cards, bank passbooks, laptops and cheque books were seized.
Police said investigations were underway to trace the wider networks, financial trails and other people involved in the alleged operations.