Jamtara

Jamtara
City/municipality
Clock tower with statue of Veer Kunwar Singh on horseback
Jamtara
Location in Jharkhand, India
Jamtara
Jamtara (India)
Coordinates: 23°57′48″N 86°48′05″E / 23.9633°N 86.8014°E / 23.9633; 86.8014
Country India
State Jharkhand
DistrictJamtara
Area
 • Total
1,802 km2 (696 sq mi)
Elevation
155 m (509 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total
90,426
 • Density439/km2 (1,140/sq mi)
Languages (* for language details, see Jamtara block#Language and religion)
 • Official
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
815351
Telephone code06433
Vehicle registrationJH-21
Sex ratio959 /
Websitejamtara.nic.in

Jamtara is a city and a notified area in the Jamtara Sadar subdivision of the Jamtara district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is the headquarters of the eponymous district, subdivision, and community development block.

Jamtara is nicknamed the "phishing capital of India", due to a history of pan-Indian scam incidents originating there.

Geography

8km
5miles
B
I
H
A
R
W
E
S
T
B
E
N
G
A
L
l
Mayurakshi River
k
Ajay River
j
Barakar River
D
Massanjore
Dam
CT
Rasikpur
CT
Purana
Dumka
CT
Dudhani
CT
Karmatanr
M
Mihijam
M
Jamtara
M
Basukinath
M
Dumka
M
Madhupur
M
Jasidih
M
Deoghar
R
Narayanpur
R
Nala
R
Kundahit
R
Fatehpur
R
Bindapathar
R
Basudih
R
Bagdahari
R
Tongra
R
Taljhari
R
Shikaripara
R
Saraiyahat
R
Ranishwar
R
Ramgarh
R
Masalia
R
Maluti
R
Kathikund
R
Jarmundi
R
Jama
R
Hansdiha
R
Gopikandar
R
Sarwan
R
Sarath
R
Palojori
R
Mohanpur
R
Margomunda
R
Karon
R
Devipur
R
Sonaraithari
R
Chitra
Cities, towns, and locations in the Deoghar, Dumka, and Jamtara districts of Santhal Pargana Division
M: municipality, CT: census town, R: rural/urban centre, D: dam,
Owing to space constraints on this map, actual locations on a larger map may vary slightly.

Location

Jamtara is located at 23°57′N 86°48′E / 23.95°N 86.8°E / 23.95; 86.8, 250 km from Ranchi, the state capital, and 54 km from Dhanbad.[1] It has an area of 1,801 km2 and an average elevation of 155 metres (508 feet).

Education

Educational institutions in Jamtara include Edwards English School.

Demographics

In the 2011 Indian census, the latest to date, Jamtara had a population of 29,415, composed of 89% Hindus and 10% Muslims. Males constituted 52% of the population and females 48%. Jamtara had an average literacy rate of 63.73%, lower than the national average of 74.4%; male literacy was 76.85% and female 50.08%. 13% of the population was under 6 years of age.[2]

Languages

Languages spoken in Jamtara (2011)[3]
  1. Bengali (43.2%)
  2. Hindi (28.6%)
  3. Khortha (15.5%)
  4. Santali (3.53%)
  5. Others (9.17%)

According to the 2011 census, Bengali was the most-spoken language in Jamtara, with 12,713 speakers, followed by Hindi at 8,412, Khortha at 4,553, and Santali at 1,038.

Phishing industry

Since the 2010s, Jamtara has been known as the "phishing capital of India", due to the proliferation of cybercrime operations centred there.[4] Police from different Indian states began investigating these operations in 2015, making several arrests, though conviction rates were low, and the illicit industry was hardly affected.[4] Between April 2015 and March 2017, police from 12 Indian states reportedly made 23 journeys to Jamtara.[5][6]

The 2020 Netflix crime drama series Jamtara – Sabka Number Ayega is a fictionalized look at the eponymous city's scam operations.[4][7][8]

References

  1. ^ "Maps, Weather, and Airports for Jamtara, India". fallingrain.com.
  2. ^ 2011 Census data censusindia.gov.in Archived 17 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Census data censusindia.gov.in
  4. ^ a b c "'Scamming became the new farming': inside India' cybercrime villages". theguardian.com. 30 October 2025. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  5. ^ Singh, Shiv Sahay (12 August 2017). "The cyber con 'artists' of Jharkhand's Jamtara district". The Hindu – via thehindu.com.
  6. ^ "ED raids 5 locations in Jharkhand in first cyber conning PMLA case". The Economic Times.
  7. ^ Arora, Akhil (3 January 2020). "Jamtara Netflix Series Release Date, Trailer, Cast, Director, Writer, and More". NDTV. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  8. ^ "Jamtara writer Nishank Verma: Realistic dramas are the toughest to crack". India Today. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2025.