Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police today busted the third setup of the SIM Box racket in Jharkhand’s Ranchi. The first two setups were unearthed in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
A Special Squad of Commissionerate Police along with Laxmisagar Police today reached Ranchi with accused Raju Mandal. The Odisha police team, with active cooperation and support from Ranchi counterparts, located the rented house of Haji Sohel Malik at Maulana Azad Colony, Lane no 15, near Manan Chowk under Namkum PS.
According to police, Raju Mandal had taken the house on rent for Rs 7500 per month. Mandal had set up the SIM boxes and used to visit the place once a week to maintain electricity, and internet, and replace the inactive SIM cards.
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Bangladeshi mastermind of the SIM Box setup, Asadur Zaman had got the SIM boxes delivered in West Bengal to Raju Mandal. Then Raju had taken the SIM boxes to Ranchi by Train and set up the SIM boxes as per the direction of Asadur, the police said.
Asadur used to send money through ‘Hundi’ or ‘Hawala’ to Raju for the expenses. All the SIM cards are pre-activated AIRTEL sims from West Bengal. Asadur had procured the SIMs and got those delivered through code word to Raju, the police added.
The Special Squad seized five SIM Boxes, with 219 active SIMs, 40 SIMs on standby, and other electronic and network hardware from the setup.
Cyber Cell of Jharkhand Police, CID Crime Branch of Jharkhand, Special Branch of Jharkhand Police, Officers of Namkum PS and Lower Bazar PS of Ranchi Police also actively participated in the raid, interrogated accused Raju Mandal and provided all the support for search and seizure.
The search and seizure continued for six hours and the Team returned to Bhubaneswar for further investigation.
Also Read: Commissionerate Police Unearths Jharkhand Link in SIM Box Case