Bhandaripokhari: Bhadrak district police Monday arrested four persons, including the main accused, for running an illegal SIM card racket that supplied unauthorised connections to interstate cybercriminals.
The arrested accused were identified as the prime accused Dilip Sahu, 30, of Kulana village; Ramesh Chandra Parida alias Kalia, 37, and Ashish Kumar Swain, 40, of Bishol Shasan; and Ganesh Kumar Rout, 25, of Nalgunda area under Chandabali police limits.
Bhandaripokhari police station officer-in-charge Rajalakshmi Nayak said the racket came to light after Delhi Police arrested Santosh Khandei from the Manjuriroad area December 10 in connection with a cybercrime case. During interrogation, Santosh reportedly revealed the involvement of Dilip and others from Bhadrak district.
Following the development, Bhadrak SP Manoj Rout directed local police to intensify the investigation. The accused had gone into hiding soon after the arrests by Delhi Police.
Police said Dilip was an authorised Airtel retailer but allegedly bypassed mandatory KYC and biometric verification norms. Using Aadhaar details of unsuspecting people, multiple SIM cards were activated against single identities and sold at high prices. These SIM cards were later used in cyber fraud cases across several states.
Punjab Police had earlier registered a cybercrime case (19/25) at SAS Nagar police station September 25, in which links to Bhadrak surfaced. Subsequent raids were conducted in Kulana and Chandrabhanuapur villages, and notices were issued to absconding suspects.
Based on a complaint filed by a sub-inspector January 10, a case (14/26) was registered at Bhandaripokhari police station. Police said further arrests were likely as the investigation continues.
