Gujarat CID arrests Assam man over ₹1,071 crore crypto-to-China laundering ring

The Gujarat CID has arrested 25-year-old Rafiqul Alam of Assam over his alleged involvement in a large-scale cybercrime ring linked to 1,090 offences involving an estimated ₹1,071.5 crore.

According to investigators, Alam allegedly moved illicit funds through 1,754 Indian bank accounts as part of the operation. The money was subsequently converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to China, where investigators say Alam maintained links with suspected cybercriminals.

The arrest forms part of a wider investigation into a network believed to have used India’s financial and digital infrastructure to move proceeds from cyber fraud.

23 crypto wallets linked to ₹16 crore in transactions

Investigators reportedly recovered evidence of 23 cryptocurrency wallets from Alam’s devices. Transactions involving the wallets were valued at approximately ₹16 crore.

The CID also found chats on the devices that allegedly connected Alam with criminals based in China, providing investigators with additional evidence of the suspected cross-border financial network.

The use of multiple bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets allegedly enabled the movement and conversion of funds, making it more difficult to trace the origin and destination of the money.

The case highlights the increasingly international nature of cyber-enabled financial crime, in which fraudulent proceeds can move rapidly across banking and cryptocurrency networks.

CID prevents 10 digital arrest scams

Alongside Alam’s arrest, the Gujarat CID said it had intervened in 10 separate cases involving so-called digital arrest scams.

The scams targeted people across four states, with fraudsters allegedly impersonating government or law-enforcement officials to pressure victims into transferring money.

The intervention prevented victims from losing lakhs of rupees to the suspected fraudsters.

Digital arrest scams typically rely on intimidation and prolonged communication to convince targets that they are under investigation for alleged crimes, before demanding money under the guise of fines, security deposits or other payments.

Cross-border links raise fresh cybercrime concerns

The alleged scale of the operation, combined with the use of hundreds of bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, underscores the challenges faced by investigators tracking cybercrime proceeds.

The Gujarat CID’s investigation is focused on establishing the full extent of Alam’s alleged role, the movement of the funds and his links to the China-based network.

No direct quotes from officials, investigators or other named stakeholders were included in the source material provided for this report. Accordingly, no quotations have been added.