Patna, March 11 A total of 141 people were arrested during a statewide crackdown by the Bihar Police on Wednesday, targeting networks of fake bank accounts allegedly used to facilitate cyber fraud across the country, an official statement said.
The statewide operation, carried out under 'Cyber Prahar 2.0', led to the registration of 86 FIRs across the state.
A statement issued by the Cyber Crime and Security Unit of the Bihar Police said, "Action was taken against 141 individuals, including arrests and the issuance of legal notices, across various districts of Bihar, and 86 FIRs have been registered for their involvement in operating fake bank accounts."
A fake bank account is one used by criminals to receive, transfer, or launder illicit funds.
In Bhojpur district, an accused who had opened fake accounts in collusion with the executive sales manager of a private bank was arrested. During the raid, five ATM cards, 14 SIM cards, and information/documents regarding 50 additional fake accounts were recovered, it said.
Bhagalpur Police exposed a gang withdrawing money from the accounts of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme and transferring it through fake bank accounts. "Five cyber criminals involved in the gang were arrested. The gang was affecting beneficiaries in several districts of Bihar through Aadhaar-enabled payment systems," it said.
In Motihari, 12 FIRs were registered, and action was taken against 30 individuals through arrests or legal notices. Additionally, Bhagalpur took action against 14 individuals, Aurangabad against eight, and Madhubani against nine criminals, the statement said.
"In several cases, evidence of serious negligence or collusion by bank employees was found, following which arrests were also made. Some employees of a private bank were also arrested on Wednesday," the statement said.
In the next phase of 'Cyber Prahar 2.0', more than 100 fake SIM card sellers across the state have been identified whose SIM cards are being used by cyber criminals to commit crimes across the country, it said.