Arrest of Two Delhi Residents
Officers of the Bareilly Cyber Crime Unit apprehended two Delhi natives, identified as Vishal and Sachin Gupta, on allegations of providing bank accounts and SIM cards to people engaged in cyber‑crimes. One of the accused works as a taxi driver, while the other is employed as a delivery personnel.
Materials Confiscated
During the raid, investigators recovered a substantial cache: four mobile phones, four SIM cards, 27 passbooks, multiple checkbooks, twelve ATM cards, and photocopies of Aadhaar and PAN cards, among other documents.
Fabricated Aadhaar Addresses
Interrogation revealed that the duo had altered the residential address on their Aadhaar cards, substituting their genuine address with one in Sainik Colony, Izzatnagar. This false address was then used to open several bank accounts.
Connection to a Man Named Shoaib
According to the suspects, they first encountered a man named Shoaib while travelling by train. Shoaib allegedly offered them money to open bank accounts and procure SIM cards. The pair accepted, changed the address on their Aadhaar documents, and received ₹5,000 for opening a UCO Bank account and a SIM card, with a promise of ₹2 lakh per account thereafter.
Bank Accounts Set Up with Help from Associates
On 8 September, the duo rode a motorcycle to Bareilly. Shoaib, together with his partners Amal Saini and Fuzair, facilitated the creation of accounts across multiple banks. Once the accounts were active, Vishal and Sachin handed over the passbooks, checkbooks, ATM cards and SIM cards before returning to Delhi.
Ongoing Investigation
Authorities disclosed that Shoaib and Amal Saini are already serving sentences for unrelated cases. The Cyber Crime Police continue to scrutinise the seized documents, trace the opened accounts, and identify any additional participants in the alleged cyber‑crime network.
