Aadhaar enabled payment system fraud case leads to 5 arrests by Kolkata Police

On Wednesday, the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) fraud operation resulted in the arrest of 5 individuals by the Kolkata Police. Tushar Kanti Mukherjee, 46, who reported an instance of financial fraud and identity theft, filed a complaint that led to the arrests.

The complaint claims that a group of fraudsters deceitfully pretended to be legitimate bank account holders in order to steal private information, including Aadhaar card numbers and bank account information, from unwary victims.

They took it a step further in Mukherjee’s case and faked his fingerprints in order to trick the AEPS system.

The complainant Mukherjee’s electronic data was stolen by the thieves, who then utilized it to carry out fraudulent transactions and steal a sizeable amount from him—roughly Rs. 28,900.

A team of police officers assembled information about comparable AEPS fraud cases that had recently been reported after receiving the complaint. Authorities discovered that a gang of criminals was working remotely from Araria in Bihar and Islampore in West Bengal.

These conclusions led the police to conduct raids in the suspected areas, which resulted in the capture of two key suspects.

Moktar Alam and Rousan Ali were the names of the two individuals that were detained. Both were shown to have been involved in a number of Mukherjee-like cases. They were in charge of making phony fingerprints that were used to access victims’ bank accounts and extract money.

Additional suspects were involved, according to additional interrogations. 3 more people, including 29-year-old Musha Alam, 26-year-old Naushad Hayat, and Posirul Alam, were detained from an Islampore hotel as a result of additional raids that were carried out in response to information.

Officials also confiscated incriminating items and documents during the search operation, including ready-to-use cloned fingerprints that were matched with associated Aadhaar numbers, Aadhaar card copies, a CSP deed, and bank debit cards.

The five suspects who had been detained were hauled to Lalbazar and presented to the judge. In the instance, additional investigation is being conducted.