Bhagalpur: Amid rising cyber fraud cases in the district, police have arrested Rajkishore Yadav, a resident of Khushalpur village. Yadav is accused of exploiting customer service points (CSPs) to clone fingerprints of over 400 people using silicone biometric molds and paper copies, enabling him to carry out large-scale online fraud. The investigation was jointly conducted by Bhagalpur police and the cyber cell team.
According to officials, Yadav targeted residents of rural areas—particularly women and senior citizens—misusing their Aadhaar, ATM cards, bank passbooks, and other documents to siphon off funds from government schemes and other financial transactions.
DSP Cyber Cell, Kanishk Srivastav, stated, “Yadav exploited the lack of awareness and literacy among villagers, using the pretext of Aadhaar updates, e-KYC, and banking services to commit fraud. It is estimated that this scam caused financial losses running into crores of rupees.”
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During the investigation, police recovered fingerprint copies of 320 individuals, including some women from Katihar district. Interrogation revealed the involvement of an accomplice named Sonu Mandal from Salem Pur, who assisted Yadav in cloning fingerprints.
The Bhagalpur City SP stated that the cyber police received a written complaint on March 23 from a resident of Parshurampur. Following the complaint, a joint team initiated the investigation. Upon confirming online fraud, the primary CSP operator was arrested.
Police seized from Yadav’s possession four cash transaction registers, a laptop, account opening registers, a fingerprint capture machine, 120 ATM cards, 70 bank passbooks, Aadhaar details, and other incriminating evidence. Preliminary estimates suggest that each victim suffered losses of approximately ₹25,000 to ₹30,000 due to this scam.
Cyber expert and former IPS officer Prof. Triveni Singh commented, “Rural and less-literate people are often deceived under the guise of Aadhaar and banking updates. Digital awareness and strict monitoring are crucial to prevent such frauds.”
Police claim that the gang was operating in coordination with several others. The arrested accused has disclosed additional names during questioning, and authorities are working to unearth the full network.
Following this arrest, strict surveillance of cybercrime in the area has been intensified. Residents have been advised to use only authorized and trusted centers for any banking or Aadhaar-related services.
Experts suggest that transparency and regular audits of CSP centers are essential to protect rural and less-literate populations from fraud. Police continue to investigate similar cases and have assured strict action against all involved parties.
