SIM box racket: Commissionerate Police busts another device in Jharkhand; terror link under scanner

After busting SIM box set rackets in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, the Commissionerate Police on Tuesday detected another set-up in Ranchi. As per initial reports, the SIM box set-up was busted at Maulana Azad Colony after a raid was conducted with assistance from Jharkhand Police.

The fresh SIM box set up in Ranchi was busted based on the information shared by accused Raju Mandal who was earlier arrested by Commissionerate Police after busting a set-up in Bhubaneswar recently.

The Commissionerate Police seized a total of 12 SIM boxes during the raid in both Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Apart from this, a total of 481 SIM cards, an extra 810 stand-by SIM cards were also seized from both places.

Senior officials of the Commissionerate Police have sought assistance from the NIA and Interpol as the mastermind and the handler of the accused Raju Mandal is said to be Asadur Jaman who hails from Bangladesh.

Today, the special team raided a house in Ranchi and seized a SIM box set with five active devices and multiple SIM cards. The house owner is being interrogated in connection with the incident. Sources said that the mastermind from Bangladesh had also visited the place in Ranchi like he visited Bhubaneswar.

The terror link and other aspects including cyber fraud will be probed, police said. After the seizure of SIM box devices, a detailed technical examination will be conducted in this regard. Sources said that a team of Commissionerate Police will soon conduct a similar raid in another state where a SIM box has been set up.