Village once known for fine quality jute now a cybercrime hub

Kashibari village, located in Amaur block of Bihar's Purnia district, once renowned for producing fine-quality jute, has now gained notoriety as a hub for cybercrime.

- Aditya Nath Jha

KASHIBARI (PURNIA): Kashibari village, located in Amaur block of Bihar's Purnia district, once renowned for producing fine-quality jute, has now gained notoriety as a hub for cybercrime. Despite police efforts resulting in the arrest of over a dozen individuals allegedly involved in cybercrimes over the past two years, such activities continue unabated.

This remote village, located about 9 km from the Amaur block headquarters and home to a population of over 5,000, has few educated youth. However, one might be surprised to find many young residents possessing remarkable knowledge of the cyber world.

On January 9, Purnia police, acting on a tip-off received by superintendent of Police (SP) Kartikeya K. Sharma, arrested 27-year-old Mohammad Marguf from Kashibari village. The police recovered rubber clones of fingerprints, Aadhaar numbers, bank details, and 12 individual fingerprints from his possession.

"We are conducting raids to apprehend Mohammad Marguf's accomplices who escaped during the operation," police officials said, acknowledging that "several youths in this village are involved in cybercrime."