The probe into the illegally operated parallel telephone exchanges recently unearthed in eight locations in Kozhikode city is in its early stages, but what the investigators are seriously looking into is the suspected involvement of extremist elements in their operation.
The special investigation squad has already arrested a person on charge of operating the exchange, but the officials are on the lookout for the kingpins of the operation that allegedly receives international internet calls and divert them at a cheaper rate to local receivers using a dedicated broadband connection and call router devices. The international calls will appear as local calls on the receiver’s cellphone. The users will have to take a coupon from these illegal exchanges for the service.
The investigators have already seized SIM cards, in the name of various individuals and corporates, and it is expected that they would lead them to the operators.
In other districts
Officials who investigated similar incidents in Malappuram and Ernakulam districts say more such exchanges were unearthed after anti-terror investigation agencies began to monitor closely the social media exchanges of suspected extremist elements. The background of already arrested persons in similar cases will have to be checked for arriving at a conclusion on extremist elements’ role, they reveal.
30 SIM cards at a time
In the initial investigation, it was found that the operators were using more than 100 SIM cards to transfer the illegally received international internet calls. A China-made call transfer device was used for the purpose. According to police sources, the device was configured in such a way as to use over 30 SIM cards at a time.
Process of tracking
In support of the police probe, the telecom authorities too are in the process of identifying the seized SIM cards. According to sources, the SIM cards which have not received any direct incoming calls for long can be tracked easily. Apart from this, cards which are constantly located under a particular tower and which are seldom used can be tracked for further verification.