Odisha Police team to visit Ranchi to seize SIM box

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police, which recently busted a major SIM box racket in the State, will send a special team to Ranchi to seize another SIM box with Jharkhand police’s help, a senior officer said on Monday.The racket was busted on August 16 when police arrested West Bengal resident Raju Mandal in Bhubaneswar.

During the operation, authorities seized five active SIM boxes, two reserve SIM boxes and over 750 SIM cards, along with routers and other equipment from a residence in Bhubaneswar.Police claim that the racket was operated by a Bangladeshi national who used the setup in Bhubaneswar to reroute international calls from Pakistan, China and West Asia to India.

SIM boxes are used to hide original phone numbers and are often employed for cybercrime, hate speech, terrorist acts, extortion and other illegal activities, posing challenges for law enforcement agencies.

Police Commissioner of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Sanjeeb Panda said, “According to our investigation, there is another SIM box in Ranchi. Our police team will go there to conduct a search and seizure operation with the help of local police.”

During questioning, Mandal said he had been operating SIM boxes from multiple locations, including Cuttack and Ranchi. Following this information, a special squad, along with police and cyber experts, conducted a raid on a house in Madhupatna area of Cuttack on Sunday and seized five SIM boxes, 236 active SIMs, 310 spare SIMs, routers, a broadband connection and other materials.

Panda said Mandal had rented the house in Bhubaneswar in December 2023, under the pretence of running a cloth business. He paid the rent of Rs 8,000 per month through Phone Pay, police said.Asadur Zaman, a 30-year-old from Feni, Bangladesh, had arrived in Cuttack in December to set up the SIM box operation, with Mandal responsible for maintenance.

Asadur had an Indian visa valid until October 24, 2024, and had entered India via ICP Agartala on October 21, 2023, before departing for Bangladesh on December 24, 2023, through ICP Haridaspur (WB), police added.

Mandal was also known to visit Bangladesh by bus via Basirhat border and occasionally visited Bangaon for small-time business. It was there he met Asadur and the two planned to establish a SIM box operation in India.

Mandal would travel from North 24 Parganas weekly to maintain the SIM boxes, including overseeing internet and electricity services, police said.

Police have traced three bank accounts — two in Mandal’s name and one in his wife’s name — and are awaiting further details.