This order deals with an application for pre-arrest bail filed by four accused persons facing charges of cheating (Sections 420/417) and criminal conspiracy for allegedly renting out ATM cards. The court rejected the prayer, ruling the investigation incomplete.
Prayer for pre-arrest bail under Section 438 CrPC rejected.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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GAHC010156782022
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : AB/2221/2022
SEIKH SAKIB AND 3 ORS. S/O AJGAR ALI R/O VILL- KAYAKUCHI BAZAR, P.S. AND DIST. BARPETA, ASSAM PIN-781352
2: MAHIBUL ISLAM S/O SHAHIDUR RAHMAN R/O VILL- KAYAKUCHI BAZAR
P.S. AND DIST. BARPETA ASSAM PIN-781352
3: HAFIZUR RAHMAN S/O SIDDIK ALI R/O VILL- KAYAKUCHI BAZAR
P.S. AND DIST. BARPETA ASSAM PIN-781352
4: MIJANUR RAHMAN @ MIZANUR HAQUE S/O KAMAL UDDIN R/O VILL- BHALUKABARI P.S. AND DIST. BARPETA ASSAM PIN-78135
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM REP. BY THE PP, ASSAM
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Advocate for the Petitioner : MR T KALITA
Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM
BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MANISH CHOUDHURY
ORDER
Date : 08-09-2022
Heard Mr. B.K. Mahajan, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. K.K. Parasar, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the respondent State of Assam. 2. By this application under Section 438, Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 [CrPC], the petitioners viz. [1] Seikh Sakib, [2] Mahibul Islam; [3] Hafizur Rahman; and [4] Mijanur Rahman @ Mizanur Haque have approached this Court seeking the benefit of pre-arrest bail, apprehending their arrest, in connection with Barpeta Police Station Case no. 779/2022 registered for offences punishable under Sections 420/417/120[B], Indian Penal Code.
“I have the honour to report that, on 01.08.2022, an information was received regarding fraudsters who collects ATM Cards of hired basis for illegal transaction of money and they are roaming at Bhalukabari village.
The information was entered in to GD by OC, Barpeta PS GDE No. 19/22 Dated : 01/08/2022 and OC Barpeta PS direct me to enquire in to the matter.
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I along with staff reached at Bhalukabari village and on reaching I found 2 youths roaming suspiciously in a vehicle bearing registration NO. AS 01 FA 1913 [Maruti Suzuki ALTO]. I stopped them and on being asked they disclosed their name and address as follows-
[1] Faruk Abdullah [19 yrs], S/o Abdul Majid Mullah of Kamalpur, Kayakuchi, PS & Dist- Barpeta [2] Jiaur Rahman [23 yrs], S/O Banji Ali Dewan of Kuriha, Kayakuchi, PS & Dist- Barpeta.
In the mean time some villagers gathered there and started saying that Faruk Abdullah and Jiaur Rahman and other 4 person came to Bhalukabari to collect ATM cards on hired basis. Four [4] of them fled away after smelling trouble.
I immediately took both of them in to custody and brought them to Barpeta PS.
During course of interrogation Faruk Abdullah stated that, he along with Seikh Sakib, S/O Ajgar Ali of Kayakuchi Bazar, Mahibul Islam of Kayakuchi Bazar, Hafizur Rahman of Kayakuchi Bazar and Mijanur Rahman of Bhalukabari went to Bahlukabari to collect ATM Cards from villagers in hired basis @ 1500/- per day.
As stated by Faruk Abdullah they basically collected ATM cards of Federal Bank with the PIN from some illiterate village people on hired basis @ Rs. 1500 for 3 days and handed over to a person sitting there in Alipurduwar, West Bengal. Other fraudsters cheat people at ATM in different places of Assam/India and transferred money to Federal Bank account [Hired ATM card] and they withdraw the transferred amount from hired ATM cards. He also stated that, if police follows the account number related to the ATM card [Hired] then police will get the actual illiterate owner only who knows nothing about the transaction. Thus the fraudster seat safely behind the
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scene.
The fraudsters collect details of illiterate village people and helped them to apply ATM cards of Federal Bank through online and later on fraudsters collect the ATM Cards from them along with the PIN number.
Name and address of accused persons
[1] Faruk Abdullah [19 yrs], S/O Abdul Majid Mullah, Vill-Kamalpur, Kayakuchi, PS & Dist-Barpeta
[2] Jiaur Rahman [23 yrs], S/O Banij Ali Dewan of Kuriha, Kayakuchi, PS & Dist-Barpeta
[3] Seikh Sakib, S/O Ajgar Ali, Vill-Kayakuchi Bazaar, PS & Dist-Barpeta
[4] Mahibul Islam, S/O Not known of Kayakuchi Bazaar, PS & Dist- Barpeta
[5] Hafizur Rahman, S/O – Not known Kayakuchi Bazaar, PS & DistBarpeta
[6] Mijanur Rahman S/O – Not known of Balukabari, PS & Dist-Barpeta
[7] Others.”
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the villagers. The alleged victims are from one Bhalukabari village and the petitioners are from different locality. After being aware of monetary transactions carried out through the ATM cards taken from the villagers, the villagers had unitedly tried to nab the culprits who came to their village - Bhalukabari on the particular day in a vehicle. According to the villagers, they could apprehend two of them out of the six occupants of the vehicle. The materials in the case diary further go to indicate that the mastermind of the alleged crime is from another State, who with the use of such ATM cards of the villagers has siphoned off a huge amounts from various accounts and he is still at large. The names of the present petitioners are amongst the accomplices of the arrested accused persons.
JUDGE
Comparing Assistant
1 issue framed by the court
Whether to grant pre-arrest bail under Section 438 CrPC to petitioners in case involving alleged ATM card fraud.
1 provisions across 1 enactments
Seikh Sakib and others
State of Assam
Manish Choudhury
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
