Delhi police busts fake SIM card racket in Odisha’s Bhadrak, 2 arrested

Delhi Police, with the assistance of Bhandaripokhari Police, arrested a mobile shop owner from Manjuri Road Market in Odisha’s Bhadrak district for his alleged involvement in the sale of fake and illegally pre-activated SIM cards.

The accused has been identified as Santosh Khandai, who runs a mobile phone shop under the jurisdiction of Bhandaripokhari police station. Delhi Police brought him to the local police station for questioning before placing him under arrest.

Earlier on Friday, Delhi Police arrested another accused, Maheshwar Puntia of Tarago village under the Bant police station limits, in connection with the same illegal SIM card network. Both accused were later taken to Delhi on transit remand after obtaining necessary permission from the Bhadrak court.

According to police, the two accused allegedly activated multiple SIM cards using customers’ Aadhaar details without their knowledge. While customers were issued only one SIM card, additional SIMs activated simultaneously were sold at higher prices to unidentified persons. Police said these anonymously sold SIM cards were later used in criminal activities.

The case was registered at the Shaheen Bagh police station in Delhi after illegally obtained SIM cards, allegedly sold by Santosh, were seized from an accused during the investigation. This led investigators to trace the network to Bhadrak.

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Delhi Police’s Shaheen Bagh police station, along with the Cyber Cell, is jointly investigating the case to identify other links in the racket.