Three held for running illegal phone exchange in Prayagraj
A large number of SIM cards and other equipment used for running the exchange were recovered from them.
The Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) busted a gang operating an illegal telephone exchange from Prayagraj on Monday.
The ATS team arrested three people who used to transform international calls into local calls bypassing the international gateway, thus causing a loss of revenue worth crores of rupees to the service provider and the government.
A large number of SIM cards and other equipment used for running the exchange were recovered from them. An FIR was lodged against them at Dhumanganj police station of the city, the police said.
Officials said that the joint teams of ATS units of Prayagraj and Varanasi carried out raids and arrested three persons identified as Mohd Sarfaraz Ahmad Siddiqui and Wajid Siddiqui of Pipri area of Kaushambi and Aman Siddiqui of Mundera area.
Ten SIM boxes, nine adaptors, 814 SIM cards, 3 fibre cables, 3 fibre connection boxes, 4 extension boards, 4 fibre stream boxes, 8 mobiles and a laptop were recovered from their possession, they said.
The arrested persons were running the exchange at three different locations in Dhumanganj area of Prayagraj. The accused had also taken rooms on rent for that purpose. They were planning to flee after the ATS unit in Kanpur busted another big illegal exchange in Kanpur on May 19.
During questioning the accused said that one Asif of Govandi area of Mumbai was their gang leader. He used to use applications like TeamViewer and AnyDesk for configuring the call routers. Asif also used to provide SIM cards, SIM boxes and money to them.
Despite having no technical knowledge, the arrested accused were experts in running the illegal exchange. They used to install special software for connecting the calls to the server. They used hi-tech SIM boxes in which mobile numbers changed automatically after every six hours. In these SIM boxes, SIM cards were also used. Investigations till now have indicated that they were provided training by the gang leaders in Mumbai, said a senior police officer.
Further investigation was also being carried out to identify other members of the gang. Action will also be taken against retailers who provide pre-activated SIM cards, officials added.
An FIR has been registered against the accused under fraud, conspiracy, IT Act, 3/6 Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933 and 4/20/21/25 of Indian Telegraph Act 1855, officials further said.
How they used to do it
Officials said that the accused used to import the SIM box from China through alibaba.com. A SIM box is a device in which multiple SIM cards can be installed and can be operated through software.
Persons making an international call through the setup, or receiving one, would first connect to this SIM box which will convert the call into a local one. A local mobile number will be displayed on the mobile screen of the receiver of the call.
The call details will also show a local mobile number instead of the international mobile number. There will be no record of an international call or the identity of the caller.
