SIM Box Racket In Odisha: Police Probing Cyber Crime, Narcotics Angles & Possible Terror Links

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police, which unearthed the SIM box racket last week in Bhubaneswar, are investigating the case from all angles, including cyber crime, narco-terror, and militancy.

Addressing a presser, Commissioner of Police (CP) Sanjeeb Panda on Monday said SIM boxes are used to mask international calls as local ones, can be used for a variety of criminal activities. However, key accused in the case, Raju Mandal who is on a five-day police remand said that he was unaware of any criminality in operations.

Mandal was informed by his Bangladeshi handler Asadur Jaman that the set up is being used for signalling purpose, Panda said.

While questioning Mandal, police came to know about two more locations, one at Madhupatna in Cuttack (which was raided on Sunday) and another in Jharkhand, where he had set up SIM boxes.

“We have set up a special team which will go to Jharkhand on the basis of inputs provided by Mandal,” the CP added..

Raju Mandal visited Bangladesh to meet Asadur

Accused Raju Mandal used to visit Bangladesh for business via West Bengal (through Basirhat border) and came in contact with Asadur in a village. Later Asadur visited Bhubaneswar and installed SIM boxes at two places in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Raju used to get a monthly salary and other monetary benefits from Asadur through Hawala. “Three bank accounts in the name of Mandal and his mother have been found. We are verifying his financial transactions,” Panda said.

12 SIM boxes and 481 active SIM cards seized

Police have seized total 12 SIM boxes during raids in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, apart from 481 active SIM cards from the twin cities. “We have also seized another 810 stand-by SIM cards. Asadur used to visit Odisha for maintenance and repair of the equipment and replace non-functional SIMs. During the raid at Madhupatna in Cuttack, police recovered 5 active SIM boxes using 200 SIM cards. “We have also seized 310 extra SIMs with router and modem,” the CP said.

Asadur stayed at a hotel in Bhubaneswar

Police investigation further revealed that Asadur Jaman was staying in a a hotel in Bhubaneswar and his room was booked in the name of Raju Mandal. The hotel, where Asadur stayed, did not adhere to the norms pertaining to foreign nationals. “Hotels that provide accommodation to foreigners must submit the details of the residing foreigner in Form C to the Registration authorities within 24 hours of the arrival of the foreigner on their premises. This will help the registration authorities in locating and tracking the foreigners,” Panda said.

Case History

Acting on a tip-off, Laxmisagar police conducted a raid at a rented accommodation in Mahadev Nagar on Friday and nabbed Mondal. Five operational and two reserved SIM boxes were seized from him. Police also seized 225 operational SIM cards inserted in the devices, 500 new and 58 old and unused Airtel SIM cards, two wireless routers, one laptop, a modem, an inverter and other articles from him. Mandal, belonging to North 24-Parganas district, got the SIM boxes and fake SIM cards from a Bangladeshi national identified as Asadur Jamman and installed the devices in Bhubaneswar in October last year.