Page No.# 1/5 GAHC010172442026 2026:GAU-AS:13464 THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH) Case No. : AB/1921/2026 RAJU AHMED S/O-HANIF UDDIN RESIDENT OF - VILLAGE- DHALAGASA PO- RANGAPANI PS- MERERCHAR DIST- BONGAIGAON, ASSAM. VERSUS THE STATE OF ASSAM REPRESENTED BY THE PP, ASSAM. Advocate for the Petitioner : MR H R A CHOUDHURY, MR. I HUSSAIN,G UDDIN,MR A K AZAD Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM, Page No.# 2/5 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ROBIN PHUKAN ORDER 11.09.2026 Heard Mr. H. R. A. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Mr. A. K. Azad, learned counsel for the applicant and Mr. B. Sarma, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State respondent. 2. This application, under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, is preferred by applicant, namely, Raju Ahmed, who has been apprehending his arrest in connection with Kalgachia P.S. Case No. 46/2026, under Sections 61(2)/318(4)/ 319(2)/316(2)/3(5) of the BNS, 2023, read with Section 14 of the Assam Gaming and Betting Act, for grant of pre- arrest bail. 3. It is to be noted here that the aforementioned case has been registered on the basis of one FIR lodged by one Jitul Das, S.I. Police, Kalgachia P.S., on 07.05.2026. The essence of allegation in the FIR dated 07.05.2026, is that acting on a tip off, a police team of Kalgachia P.S. conducted a search operation at the residential premises of the accused person and during the course of search, one Masud Zinnul Ahmed was apprehended and several debit cards and mobile phones were recovered from his possession, and during interrogation, Masud Zinnul Ahmed led the police team to Chenimari, to a shop located there and conducting search in the said shop, several mobile phones were recovered and seized and thereafter, the police team proceeded to the residence of Raju Ahmed, the present applicant and recovered as many as 45 nos. of mobile phones and 41 nos. of Visa and RuPay debit cards of different banks and cash Page No.# 3/5 Rs. 3,00,000/-, and one Pulsar bike and seized the same preparing seizure list in presence of witnesses and it has also been found that Raju Ahmed, Shaminul Islam, Mahabur Rahman, Sanidul Islam and Mostafizur Rahman were involved in cyber fraud/cyber crime activities, including cheating and illegal financial transactions, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and other related offences. 4. Mr. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel for the applicant submits that this is the second pre-arrest bail application and the first one, being A.B. No. 1320/2026, was dismissed by this Court, vide order dated 03.08.2026. 4.1. Mr. Choudhury, learned Senior Counsel further submits that though, large number of mobile phones, debit cards and cash amount of Rs. 3,00,000/- were recovered and seized from the possession of the applicant, yet, no-one comes forward and lodged any complaint about cheating and criminal breach of trust by the applicant herein and as such, custodial interrogation of the applicant may not be required in the interest of the investigation. He also submits that the applicant is ready to co-operate with the investigating agency and therefore, he has contended to allow this application. 5. Per contra, Mr. B. Sarma, learned APP, has vehemently opposed the application. By producing the case diary before this Court, Mr. Sarma submits that the present applicant is the mastermind of the offence and that 45 Nos. of mobile phones, 41 Nos. of VISA and RuPay Debit Cards, Cash of Rs. 3,00,000/- and one Pulsar bike were recovered from his possession, and that custodial interrogation of the applicant is very much necessary in the interest of investigation and therefore, he has contended to dismiss this application. Page No.# 4/5 6. Having heard the submission of the learned counsel for both the parties, this Court has carefully gone through the application and the documents placed on record and also gone through the case diary, produced before this Court by Mr. Sarma, learned APP. 7. It appears that this is the second pre-arrest bail application and the first one, being A.B. No. 1320/2026, was dismissed by this Court, vide order dated 03.08.2026, after perusal of the case diary. 8. It appears from the case diary that during investigation, 74 Nos. of Debit cards, 84 Nos. of mobile handsets and cash of Rs. 5,00,000/- were recovered from one arrested accused, namely, Masud Zinnaul Ahmed and from the residence of the present applicant, and it also appears that they are involved in such types of crime since long. 9. It also appears that the I.O. has collected sufficient incriminating materials against the present applicant and he has been absconding and evading police arrest. And in the event of granting the privilege of pre-arrest bail to the applicant, it would be difficult to apprehend the other accused persons and it may also hamper the investigation of the case. Moreover, investigation as well as physical analysis of the Debit Cards, the Credit Cards and UPI transactions are going on and if the privilege of pre-arrest bail is granted to the applicant at this stage, the possibility of hampering the investigation and tampering the evidence cannot be ruled out and under such circumstances, it cannot be said that custodial interrogation of the applicant is not required in the interest of investigation. Page No.# 5/5 10. Under the given facts and circumstances, this Court is not inclined to extend the benefit of pre-arrest bail to the applicant at this stage and accordingly, this pre-arrest bail application stands dismissed. 11. Case diary be returned. JUDGE Comparing Assistant