SIM Box Racket In Odisha: Commissionerate Police’ Special Squad Proceeds To Ranchi With Accused Raju Mandal

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police widened its probe into the international SIM box racket busted in Bhubaneswar by sending a team to Ranchi on Tuesday.

Mandal, a native of West Bengal, revealed during questioning that he had set up and was operating another SIM box at an undisclosed location in Ranchi.

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

Police have claimed that the racket was operated by a Bangladeshi national, who used the setup in Bhubaneswar to reroute international calls from Pakistan, China, and West Asia to India. SIM boxes are used to mask original phone numbers and are often deployed for cybercrime, hate speech, terrorist acts, extortion, and other illegal activities, posing challenges for law enforcement agencies, Panda said.

During last week, special squad of Commissionerate Police and cyber experts raided locations in Bhubaneswar and houses in Laxmi Sagar (Bhubaneswar) and Madhupatna (Cuttack) to unearth illegally planted SIM boxes.

The CP said Mandal had rented the house in Bhubaneswar in December 2023, under the pretence of running a cloth business. He paid the rent of Rs 8,000 per month through Phone Pay.

Asadur Zaman, a 30-year-old from Feni, Bangladesh, had arrived in Odisha in December (2023) to set up the SIM box operation, with Mandal responsible for maintenance.

Asadur had an Indian visa valid until October 24, 2024, and had entered India via integrated check post (ICP) Agartala on October 21, 2023, before departing for Bangladesh on December 24, 2023, through ICP Haridaspur (WB), police added.

Mandal had also visited Bangladesh by bus via Basirhat border and occasionally visited Bangaon for small-time business.

It was there he met Asadur and the two planned to establish a SIM box operation in India. Mandal would travel from North 24 Parganas weekly to maintain the SIM boxes, including overseeing internet and electricity services, police said.

Police have traced three bank accounts, two in Mandal’s name and one in his mother’s name, and are verifying the financial transactions.