Police expand probe into international SIM box racket; team sent to Ranchi

Bhubaneswar, Aug 20: The Commissionerate Police has expanded its investigation into the international SIM box racket uncovered in Bhubaneswar by dispatching a team to Ranchi on Tuesday. During questioning, Mandal, originally from West Bengal, admitted to operating another SIM box at an undisclosed location in Ranchi.

On Monday, Commissioner of Police (CP) Sanjeeb Panda announced that a special team would travel to Ranchi with Mandal to seize the SIM box. This action followed the recent seizure in Bhubaneswar of five active SIM boxes, two reserve SIM boxes, over 750 SIM cards, routers, and other related equipment from a residence.

Authorities have identified a Bangladeshi national as the mastermind behind the racket, which utilized the Bhubaneswar setup to reroute international calls from Pakistan, China, and West Asia to India. SIM boxes are employed to disguise original phone numbers and are commonly used in cybercrime, hate speech, terrorism, extortion, and other illegal activities, posing significant challenges for law enforcement, according to CP Panda.

Last week, a special squad from the Commissionerate Police, along with cyber experts, conducted raids in Bhubaneswar and on residences in Laxmi Sagar (Bhubaneswar) and Madhupatna (Cuttack) to uncover illegal SIM box installations.

CP Panda stated that Mandal had rented the Bhubaneswar property in December 2023 under the guise of operating a cloth business and had been paying Rs 8,000 per month in rent via Phone Pay.

Asadur Zaman, a 30-year-old from Feni, Bangladesh, arrived in Odisha in December 2023 to establish the SIM box operation, with Mandal overseeing its maintenance.