Alipurduar: 4 held for SIM card fraud

Alipurduar: Police have arrested four individuals in Alipurduar district for their involvement in a SIM card fraud racket. The accused, now in seven-day custody, were identified as Sourav Paul of Dattapatti, Shuvojit Das of Hatkhola, Biki Roy of Damanpur and Sushant Dutta of Hatkhola in Alipurduar.

According to police sources, the suspects targeted rural residents, collecting passport-size photographs and Aadhaar card copies under the pretense of SIM registration. They then used these credentials to fraudulently obtain multiple SIM cards, which were sold to fraudsters in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. The racket had been operating for years, generating significant profits.

The fraud was uncovered during an investigation into unauthorised bank transactions. Acting on leads, Alipurduar police arrested the four suspects on Thursday. District Additional Superintendent of Police Ashim Khan urged residents to remain vigilant

against such fraud.

“The Central government has introduced a special app to detect SIM fraud. By entering an Aadhaar number, users can check how many SIM cards are registered under their name,” he said, advising the public to take preventive measures.