The District Detective Branch (DB) of Lalmonirhat arrested five members of an online gambling syndicate during two separate raids in Kaliganj Upazila on Wednesday. Police recovered 82 illegal SIM cards and six mobile phones during the operations.
Acting on a tip-off, a DB team first raided a house in the North Batris Hazari area of Chandrapur Union. Officers caught three suspects—Nazmul Islam (21), Rafiqul Islam Akash (20), and Mehedi Hasan (19)—red-handed while they were using mobile apps to facilitate gambling. Investigators found the group was using SIM cards registered under various third-party national IDs.
Based on confessions from the initial suspects, police conducted a second raid in the Latabor Dhakayatari area, arresting Afsar Ali (23) and Ashraful Islam Ariful (24).
DB sources confirmed that 23 gambling apps were found on the seized devices. The illegal SIM cards were linked to Bkash and Nagad accounts to funnel gambling transactions.
Saad Ahmed, Officer-in-Charge of the Lalmonirhat DB, stated that a case is being filed under the Cyber Security Act at Kaliganj Police Station. He emphasized that operations against illegal SIM trading and digital gambling will continue.
