Bhadrak: An illegal pre-activated SIM card racket has been busted by the police in Odisha’s Bhadrak district with the arrest of a man in this connection.
The accused, identified as Bidyadhar Sahu of Bhagapur in Basudevpur area in the district, was a wholesaler of SIM cards. He was selling SIM cards to different retailers, sources said.
The illegal business came to the light after the Ministry of Telecommunications, flagging concern about a duplicate SIM card activation racket in Odisha, wrote a letter to the Bhadrak SP through the CID (Crime Branch).
The Bhadrak police swung into action and nabbed the accused after a thorough investigation.
It is alleged that Sahu was activating SIM cards by using ID proof and biometrics of customers multiple times to meet sales target set by service providers.
A police official said that the accused was distributing SIM cards to retail outlets and he was to meet the targets set by the service providers. He used to activate SIM cards with multiple use of biometrics of one customer when the retailers failed to achieve the target for him.
