BHUBANESWAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an area distributor of a telecom service provider after searches at 10 locations in Bihar’s Vaishali and Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur districts in connection with an illegal SIM box operation case linked to cyber frauds across the country.
The accused Pankaj Kumar, a native of Vaishali, was an area distributor of Airtel in Mahua, Bihar. According to the CBI, he allegedly issued a large number of SIM cards fraudulently and passed them on for use in illegal SIM box operations. The agency seized incriminating materials, including mobile phones, laptops and SIM cards during the searches in both the states.
The illegal SIM box operation case was detected at Supaul district in Bihar last year. Subsequently, the Bihar government handed over the investigation of the case to the CBI. More than 1,300 SIM cards were found in the house where the SIM box was being operated, said the CBI.
Investigation revealed that the SIM box was connected to at least 73 cases of cyber crimes, including digital arrests, across the country. CBI extensively analysed the data related to over 1,300 SIM cards and identified some suspected points of their sale.
It was found that bulk of the SIM cards were issued from Bihar and Odisha. More than 700 of these SIM cards were issued by accused Kumar by misusing the credentials of over a dozen points of sale for SIM cards in Vaishali district of Bihar, said the CBI.
Several subscribers revealed they did not have any clue that a SIM card was issued in their name, which was done either by deceiving them when they visited a SIM card provider for a genuine reason or by misusing their biometric data collected for some other purpose, it added.
The development comes a day after CBI arrested a SIM card retailer of Kujang in connection with the cybercrime case in Bihar. The accused Rajesh Nayak, a resident of Parianga village, owns ‘Nayak Airtel Enterprise’, a SIM card retail outlet at Kujang canal market.
Sources said while investigating a cybercrime case in Bihar, the CBI found that some of the SIM cards used in the fraud had been activated in Odisha. Further probe to trace the source of the SIM cards led the CBI to Kujang. A joint team of the CBI from New Delhi and Bihar raided Nayak Airtel Enterprise in presence of Kujang police on Friday and seized more than 400 SIM cards and important documents.