From Assam’s Hinterland To Global Scam Rings: How Morigaon Became A Cybercrime Hotbed | Tech News

Last Updated:January 11, 2026, 05:44 IST

Police investigations have revealed operational links to handlers in Pakistan and Southeast Asia, raising serious national security and financial crime concerns

Investigators report that criminal syndicates, including operatives from Rajasthan and Haryana, chose Morigaon’s remote areas to establish full-fledged cybercrime bases. (Representational image)

Morigaon district in Assam has become a covert command centre for organised cybercrime. Police investigations have revealed operational links to handlers in Pakistan and Southeast Asia, raising serious national security and financial crime concerns.

Investigators report that criminal syndicates, including operatives from Rajasthan and Haryana, chose Morigaon’s remote areas to establish full-fledged cybercrime bases. From these secluded locations, they allegedly operated call-centre-style scam operations, trained recruits, and executed frauds worth hundreds of crores, often evading detection for months.

At the core of these networks is large-scale identity fraud. Fake Aadhaar cards were systematically used to obtain tens of thousands of SIM cards under single identities from across the country. These SIMs were the backbone of phishing, vishing, and “digital arrest” scams, draining savings from ordinary citizens and causing massive losses to banks.

Police investigations have uncovered staggering financial crimes. In several instances, fraudsters allegedly secured bank loans running into hundreds of crores using forged documents and fabricated identities. Once the money was siphoned off, the accused vanished without a trace. The funds were then laundered through mule accounts and routed abroad, ultimately landing in accounts linked to handlers in Pakistan and Southeast Asia.

The scale of the operation has prompted a major crackdown. Assam Police have arrested more than 300 cybercriminals in Morigaon district alone. Nearly Rs 2 crore has been recovered and returned to victims. In one of the largest SIM-related seizures in the state, over 72,000 SIM cards were confiscated and deactivated—many registered in Assam but found active near the India-Pakistan border.

Investigators have also flagged a troubling recruitment pattern. Some youths who migrate to cities such as Bengaluru and Kerala for employment are allegedly being exposed to cyber-fraud ecosystems there. On returning to Assam, they are believed to be absorbed into local cybercrime networks, strengthening Morigaon’s role as a training and execution hub.

With Morigaon now firmly exposed as a cybercrime hotspot with international money trails, Assam Police, working closely with central security and intelligence agencies, have intensified operations to dismantle these syndicates, choke funding routes, and prevent the district from becoming a permanent base for transnational digital crime.

Read More