Khordha (Odisha) [India], August 19 (ANI): Odisha Police on Monday unearthed a SIM box racket in Cuttack, a senior police official said.
The discovery came after raids in Cuttack, which were prompted by information from Raju Mandal, who was arrested the previous day.
Speaking to ANI, Odisha Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said, “During the investigation, our police team located the second SIM box in Cuttack, where we found five operational SIM boxes and a total of 236 SIMs in use. Raju Mandal had rented that house from December onwards and was paying Rs 8,000 in rent. Ashdur Jamman had also visited the location to set up the SIM boxes.”
Meanwhile, the Odisha Police Commissioner also informed that during investigation another SIM box had been set up in Ranchi, Jharkhand. He also added that the Odisha police will send a team there to locate the third SIM box.
“Our investigation has revealed that they have also set up another SIM box in Ranchi, Jharkhand. We will be sending our team to Ranchi, and with the help of local police, we will try to locate the third SIM box location,” Panda told ANI.
“Generally, these SIM boxes are used to mask international calls as local calls. They are typically used by crime syndicates for cybercrime, terrorism, money laundering, and drug trading. However, the exact nature of their use will only be known after we analyze the technical details, including call records,” Panda added.
Odisha Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda also mentioned that the main accused in the case, a Bangladeshi national identified as Ashdur Jamman, will be pursued through Interpol.
“So far, only Raju Mandal has been arrested. Ashdur Jamman resides in Bangladesh, and we will attempt to apprehend him through Interpol,” the Commissioner said.
On August 18, Odisha Police announced that they had dismantled a SIM box racket operating in Bhubaneswar with the arrest of one person.
The arrested individual was identified as Raju Mondal, a resident of West Bengal, who has been “taken into five days of remand,” the Odisha Police Commissioner said on Sunday.
“Our special squad, under the supervision of DCP Bhubaneswar, found a SIM box racket operating in Bhubaneswar. One person from West Bengal, Raju Mondal, has been arrested. He had rented a house on the periphery of Bhubaneswar, and from that house, we seized five operational SIM boxes and two standby SIM boxes. There were 255 active SIMs operating on those five SIM boxes,” Odisha Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda told ANI.
Panda explained that a Bangladeshi national had set up the racket and Raju Mondal was responsible for its smooth functioning. He added that Mondal received payments through a Hawala channel at regular intervals.
“From the initial interrogation of Raju Mondal, he has stated that he was operating under the instruction of a Bangladeshi national. The Bangladeshi national had come to Bhubaneswar around 7-8 months ago, rented the house, and set up the SIM boxes there. After that, he returned to Bangladesh, but under his instruction, Raju Mondal maintained the SIM boxes, power supply, internet connections, replacement of SIMs, and other related tasks. He was being paid through a Hawala channel at regular intervals,” the Odisha Police Commissioner said on Sunday.
Odisha Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said “According to Raju Mondal’s interrogation, these SIM boxes were used to divert calls from Pakistan, China, and Middle Eastern countries to India, disguised as local calls.” (ANI)
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