Odisha crime branch unearths SIM box racket, arrests six men

BHUBANESWAR: Acting on a tip-off by the department of telecommunications, the cyber police station of the Odisha Crime Branch unearthed a SIM box racket in Mayurbhanj district on Tuesday. Six men, including the mastermind of the interstate gang have been arrested.
The accused were identified as Vishal Khandelwal, Tapas Kumar Patra, Nigam Patra, Sudhansu Das, Aju Patra and Ajay Kumar Patra. Many pre-activated SIM cards and other equipment of the illegal telephone exchange have been seized from the accused.
“The department of telecommunications informed us that a large number of SIMs are being used in SIM boxes to defraud people in various parts of the country. Huge number of KYC-related fraud messages were generated from these SIM boxes and sent to people for the purpose of cheating. The gang members are operating in Bihar and Odisha,” a Crime Branch officer said.
Khandelwal alias Jonti is the mastermind behind the crime. He had procured SIM boxes and engaged Tapas for sending fake messages to people by using pre-activated SIMs that were supplied by Sudhansu and Nigam.
“While the prime job of the arrested gang members was to send fake KYC related messages, their Bihar counterparts were fraudulently siphoning money from the accounts of those people who fell prey to the messages,” the officer said.
Each SIM box, normally manufactured in China, can hold up to 60 fake SIM cards which can route international calls. A person abroad can call a local number from the same country, which will be routed to another number in India and then to the intended call recipient. This illegal practice helps the caller avoid the international tariff, which causes loss of revenue to the government.
The Odisha police had busted such a racket in Berhampur in July 2017. Police had then arrested four persons for operating an illegal telephone exchange with the help of the SIM boxes in Berhampur at the behest of underworld don Chhota Rajan. Using the telephone exchange, Rajan’s gang members had demanded Rs 2 crore extortion from a builder in Mumbai.