Fake mobile phone manufacturing unit in Delhi busted, over 1,800 phones seized

“During sustained interrogation, the accused persons revealed that they had been purchasing old mobile phones from scrap dealers and that new mobile body parts from China. The devices were assembled by combining old motherboards with these new bodies,” said Nidhin Valsan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central.

The officer added that once assembled, the IMEI numbers of these devices were altered using a software identified as “WRITEIMEI 0.2.2”.

During interrogation, the men admitted they had been running the racket for the past two years.

According to the police, the Karol Bagh police station had been monitoring suspicious activity in the neighbourhood for around 15 days. “Specific information was received regarding an illegal mobile manufacturing and IMEI-changing unit operating from a building in Beedanpura area of Karol Bagh,” said Nidhin Valsan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Central.

When the team entered the premises, they found five men assembling mobile phones and tampering with IMEI numbers using a laptop and specialised software, said the police.

The police seized 1,826 handsets, both keypad and smartphones, along with a laptop loaded with IMEI changing tools, WRITEIMEI 2.0 software, an IMEI scanning device, and thousands of mobile phone body parts and pre-printed IMEI labels.

The accused identified as Ashok Kumar (45), the alleged owner of the unit; Ramnarayan (36); Dharmender Kumar (35); Deepanshu (25); and Deepak (19) allegedly sold these illegally altered phones in local markets.

Police registered an FIR against the five men in Karol Bagh police station under BNS sections 318(4) and 112, along with section 65 of the IT Act and sections 42(3)(c) and 42(3)(e) of the Telecom Act, 2023.

Investigators are now probing the supply chain of the motherboards, procurement channels in China, the distribution network of the altered phones, and the identity of buyers or dealers involved in the racket.

Further raids and arrests are likely, officers added.

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