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Eight persons including a team leader and executives of leading telecommunication companies have been arrested by the central cyber cell of the Mumbai crime branch for their alleged involvement in the illegal activation of SIM cards. The police said the roles of the company executives came to light while investigating an investment fraud case, following which the eight were arrested.
According to police officials, the arrested persons have been identified as Mahesh Mahadev Kadam, Rohit Kanhaiyalal Yadav, Sagar Pandurang Thakur, Raj Ravinath Arde, Gulabchand Kanhaiya Jaiswar, Usmanali Mohammedzabur Rehman Sheikh, Abubakar Siddiqui Yusuf and Mahesh Chandrakant Pawar. While Sheikh and Yusuf are mobile shop owners, the rest of the accused are employees of a company, with Pawar being a team leader.
An officer said, “A case was registered at our police station where a person between the age of 25 to 35 years was added to a WhatsApp group named MSFL Stock Chart 33. He was told that he could earn a lot through his investment and subsequently duped of Rs 51 lakh.”
During the course of the investigation, the police said that the technical analysis of mobile numbers used in the fraudulent WhatsApp group led them to the network of illegal activities.
“Kadam, Yadav, Thakur and Arde employed with a company in Mumbai with the help of Jaiswar, who is an employee of another company, were found to have colluded in porting mobile numbers from one company to another using fake Universal Portal Codes (UPCs). We have learnt that they manipulated the system to bypass legal procedures, activating unauthorised SIM cards for personal gain,” said an officer adding,
“These ported numbers were later sold illegally through Sheikh and Yusuf for a commission.”
The investigation further revealed that the accused have sold more than 150 to 200 SIM cards over the past years and it may have been used to defraud people of amount running into crores.
The police have also learnt that Pawar, who was their team leader, instructed the other accused to delete evidence, including messages related to UPC codes.
The police said that the eight were produced before court and remanded in police custody till November 16.
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