Sambalpur: Sambalpur Cyber Police have busted a fake SIM card racket with the arrest of three persons for allegedly generating multiple SIM cards using customers’ identity documents and selling the additional cards to others.
The accused have been identified as Suraj Bag (24) of Panchput, Malati Oram alias Mala (29) of Sinapali and Papu alias Sheikh Parvez (32) of Motijharan in Sambalpur.
The racket came to light during an investigation by the Sambalpur Cyber Police Station September 22. Police found that the accused were allegedly using customers’ identity documents and other papers to generate multiple SIM cards against a single mobile number.
After handing over one SIM card to the respective customer, the accused allegedly retained the additional SIM cards and sold them to other persons.
Police said their investigation revealed that some of the SIM cards generated through the racket were being used in cyber crimes in the Jamtara area of Jharkhand. The money earned from the sale of the SIM cards was allegedly shared among the persons involved in the network.
Police seized four mobile phones, four active SIM cards, 120 sealed blank Airtel SIM cards, three bank passbooks, cheque books, Aadhaar cards, a PhonePe QR code scanner, four affidavits, a house rent agreement, 10 Airtel pamphlets and four Airtel 5G Plus signboards from the arrested persons.
The Cyber Police are conducting further investigation to ascertain the involvement of other persons in the network, the number of SIM cards generated, the identities of those to whom the cards were supplied and the amount of money transacted through the racket.
The alleged links of the network with cybercrime activities in Jamtara are also being investigated, police said.