Ahmedabad: What seemed like an ordinary snack parcel from Vadodara addressed to Dubai turned out to be the key to a sophisticated SIM card racket. The Cybercrime police have booked three individuals who exploited customer data to issue duplicate sim cards and sold it to people who used for illicit activities in Dubai.
Assistant sub-inspector Jayendrasinh Dolatsinh of the Cybercrime unit lodged a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy against the three residents of Vadodara and Ankleshwar.
The scam came to light in March when Naresh Dhayal, superintendent customs officer at the Foreign Post Office in Shahibaug, intercepted a suspicious parcel addressed to Dubai. Dhayal told police that the parcel, sent from Vadodara, contained 55 sim cards.
The Cybercrime police took custody of the parcel, which was addressed to Surya at Single Business Tower in Business Bay, Dubai. The sender was Anil Rathod, a resident of Vadodara. The parcel had “405” written in black pen on it and a photocopy of an Aadhaar card with Rathod’s details attached to the back, stated the complaint.
On opening the parcel, Cybercrime police found a packet of snacks, two carbon papers, and an A4 plastic sheet with 55 Airtel 5GPlus sim cards. During investigation, three suspects were identified: Rahul Shah, a 32-year-old resident of Danteshwar, Vadodara; Kanti Baldaniya, a 30-year-old resident of Ankleshwar; and Ajay Bhaliya, a 33-year-old resident of Vadodara.
“During inquiry, Shah revealed that he had issued new sim cards in Feb. He issued one using a digital process with biometric and Aadhaar card numbers, and the other through an offline process by uploading a photo of the customer and their Aadhaar card,” said police. He allegedly told police that he issued both sim cards in the customer’s name, handing one to the buyer and retaining the second.
In all, he collected 55 sim cards and sold them to Baldaniya for Rs 300, who sold them to Bhaliya for Rs 350 each. Bhaliya sent the sim cards to the Dubai address via Speed Post under the name of Rathod, who was his friend.
He allegedly told police that the sim cards were allegedly used for online gaming scams and other fraudulent activities. The complaint stated that multiple bank account numbers were found on Bhaliya’s cellphone, indicating that these accounts were also used for other criminal activities.
