BENGALURU: In a joint operation conducted by the officials of the telecom department and the Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths, a 35-year-old man who had cheated BSNL to the tune of `9.50 crore by converting international calls to local calls, has been arrested. The accused has been identified as Gopalakrishna Verma, a resident of Pragathi Nagar in Hyderabad.
According to police, officials of the Telecom department alerted them about the racket in converting international calls to local calls using advanced technology. Based on the information, a team of CCB police raided a room at Babusab Palya in Hennur police limits and nabbed the accused.
“Investigations revealed that Verma, in connivance with one Goodwin, a resident of US, and Unitel company in Chicago was indulging in the illegal act. He had set up a telephone exchange in the room and had got unlimited data connection from BSNL. He used SIM Box/Gateways, modem and other equipment, and converted international calls made from some companies and clients in the US to local calls.
The call rates were very cheap compared to the international calls and thus caused huge loss to BSNL. The technology is also a threat to national security as the calls made using this technology cannot be traced. It is estimated that he had caused a loss of `9.50 crores to BSNL and `75 lakh tax to the Government of India,” police said.A case has been registered in Hennur police station.