Indus Valley Times

SIM box was used to bypass international calls to Pakistan, China and the Middle East

By Mahendra Darjee

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 17: The Odisha police on Saturday made startling revelations on the seizure of seven SIM boxes from a house in Bhubaneswar and subsequent arrest of a person in connection with the incident.

Sharing details about the incident, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissioner of Police (CP) Sanjeeb Panda informed that the arrested accused Raju Mandal’s handler was Asadur Jaman, a Bangladeshi national.

Around one thousand SIM cards, mostly pre-activated from West Bengal, — old SIMs, routers and other equipment were seized following a raid on a house on Friday.

The CP informed that Raju Mandal hails from West Bengal and he was operating the SIM box from a rented accommodation in Bhubaneswar. His work was to ensure that the UPS, internet, power and other services function properly. In case of any SIM issue, Mandal used to visit the house and carry out necessary repair and maintenance work.

Mandal, a 12th Standard pass-out, informed that the SIM box was used to bypass international calls to Pakistan, China and the Middle East.

“SIM box is mainly used for cyber crimes, hate messages, terrorist activities, extortion and other crimes as original numbers get masked. Hence, it creates problems for law enforcing agencies,” said Panda.

Raju Mandal’s actual handler Asadur Jaman had visited India in October via Agartala and also Bhubaneswar. He returned to Bangladesh in December.

Jaman was making necessary payments to Mandal. During his Odisha visit, he stayed at a hotel in Bhubaneswar. He also set up two other SIM boxes and appropriate measures will be taken to bust them.

The SIM boxes were smuggled to India via Bangladesh in a clandestine manner, said Panda.

“The exact nature of crimes committed through these SIM boxes will be probed. As a Bangladeshi national is involved, we will seek help from national agencies for further investigation,”  the CP added.