Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested five individuals from various parts of the country on charges of selling citizens’ personal information online, including mobile location, call details, SIM ownership, and National Identity Card (NID) details.
According to RAB, the syndicate collected this data from government servers and sold it in exchange for money.
However, the identity of those who supplied them with the government server data is being withheld at present in interest of the investigation.
RAB initiated an investigation following recent news reports regarding online sale of citizens’ personal information, which led to the arrests during drives across different regions.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Abdus Salam Sarkar from Naogaon, Subrata Chandra Paul from Gazipur, Ismail Hossain Sohag from Noakhali, SM Nafi from Gopalganj, and Mehedi Hasan from Keraniganj, Dhaka.
Speaking at a press conference at his office on Sunday, RAB-2 Commanding Officer Additional DIG Naimul Hasan disclosed that a list of individuals involved in online data trafficking is being compiled, and they will be arrested sequentially.
He added that they would not be able to continue this business for long.
Encrypted data network
According to RAB, the main suspect, Abdus Salam Sarkar, created an encrypted website named ‘e sheba 24.top’ in April to sell citizens’ personal data. Specific types of customer information were supplied upon ordering through the website in exchange for fixed fees.
RAB further revealed that Abdus Salam and his associates sold confidential citizen data across groups on various social media platforms.
The leaked information included mobile SIM last call location, radio location, IMEI search data, Call Detail Record (CDR), SIM ownership details, mobile banking registration and transaction records, NID details, and birth registration records.
Naimul Hasan said Abdus Salam had been temporarily employed for various tasks at Election Commission office from 2018 to 2022.
Meanwhile, RAB reported that the other four arrestees advertised on Facebook and took orders via WhatsApp to sell citizens’ information.
They used SIM cards and mobile banking accounts registered under various real and anonymous names to conduct financial transactions.
Commenting on the validity of the leaked data, the RAB official said, “They were supplying customers with accurate information in exchange for money, as they collected the information using government servers.”
He added, “We have to go through a legal process; we cannot obtain a CDR without a case.”
He further said that “The information we receive is used strictly for official government work. Since members of the general public are obtaining this data, someone working with it must be leaking it. An investigation is under way regarding who is involved.”
However, he claimed that no collusion with anyone in law enforcement has been uncovered “so far.”
