Jalpaiguri, Feb. 25 -- The Jalpaiguri district police have formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe a fraudulent SIM card racket. Superintendent of Police Khandbahale Umesh Ganpat announced the SIT's formation on Tuesday, with Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sameer Rehman heading the team. The SIT includes officers from multiple branches, including cybercrime.
The case surfaced after the police recovered unauthorized pre-activated SIM cards. During the investigation, three individuals were arrested-Arnab Dutta from Khudiram Pally under Malbazar police station, Sunil Prasad from Nagrakata, and Narendra Thakur from Meteli.
The arrested individuals were allegedly linked to a call centre in Madhyamgram and initial findings suggest connections to an inter-state cyber fraud network. According to police sources, a complaint received through the cybercrime portal revealed that 166 fraudulent phone numbers-used for harassment calls-were registered under various names in Jalpaiguri district. This prompted the district police to initiate a detailed probe. Addressing the media at a press conference, SP Khandbahale Umesh Ganpat urged the public to remain cautious while purchasing SIM cards. "People should only buy SIM cards from authorized retailers. When purchasing a SIM, biometric verification should be done only once and customers should ensure that their Aadhaar details are not used multiple times. Fraudsters often misuse biometric data to activate multiple SIMs under a single identity, which are then sold illegally for a hefty sum," he warned.
During the investigation, police found that Arnab Dutta had issued the highest number of fraudulent SIMs. His shop in Malbazar has been sealed. SIM cards activated using documents of a Jalpaiguri resident were later used in fraudulent activities in Maharashtra and Delhi. However, the document owner denied knowledge of these SIMs. The SIT is now examining possible links to inter-state fraud networks. Authorities have also warned against discarding used SIM cards, as they may be misused.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.