2 Arrested For Cyber Fraud Racket, Over 200 Fake SIM Cards Seized In Cuttack

Cuttack: Cyber Police has arrested two persons for their alleged involvement in cyber fraud racket in the state and outside.

Speaking to the media on Thurs, Pratik Singh, DCP, Cuttack said the arrest was made following investigation into the complaint of a person, who was victim of cyber fraud, on February 28. The complainant alleged that he had received a phone call from unknown number telling him that the BSNL SIM card of his mobile phone would be deactivated, if he did not recharge immediately.

The fraudster also told the man to download two SMS forwarding apps in his phone. He downloaded the apps and sent the message to the fraudster. Soon after, the complainant found that more than Rs 4 lakh had been debited from his bank account. As he could know that he had fallen victim to cyber fraud, he filed the complaint at Cuttack Cyber police station.

Following investigation into the complaint, the Cyber Police could know that a big racket was operating behind the fraud. The arrested persons, who are part of the racket, were preparing fake SIM cards in the name of people and supplying those to fraudsters to dupe them, said the DCP.

Stating that their fraud operation has been going on since 2017, Singh said they have already supplied around 15,000 fake SIM cards till date. They were providing 200-300 fake SIM cards to the members of the racket from Bihar and West Bengal regularly every week.

The arrested persons have been identified as Sushant Kumar Behera and Shankar Das Adhikari of Balasore. The police have also seized 242 pre-activated JIO and 34 BSNL SIM cards and three mobile phones from their possession.

Further investigation is on to traces other members of the racket and arrest them, the DCP said.