new delhi, Aug 28
In its ongoing crackdown on cyber crimes and digital fraud under Operation ‘Chakra’, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at five locations in the Cachar district of Assam and arrested three persons, including the territorial sales manager of a telecom company.
During the investigation, the CBI found that a senior employee of a telecom company in Silchar, Assam allegedly colluded with the middlemen, distributors, and Point of Sale (PoS) agents to issue unauthorized SIM cards without the knowledge of the persons in whose name these SIM cards were officially issued.
These sales were done in violation of the guidelines and procedures and the SIM cards were sold illegally in bulk to various middlemen at high cost and later these were being used in commission of various cyber crimes.
It may be recalled here that the CBI had registered a case against unauthorized sale of SIM cards across the country being used in committing cyber crimes like digital arrest frauds, impersonation, fraudulent advertisements, investment scams and UPI related scams. The operation conducted by the federal probe agency was aimed at curbing the sale and misuse of unauthorized SIM cards.
The searches resulted in the seizure of incriminating evidence like mobile phones, electronic devices and copies of KYC documents etc.
The accused have been produced before the local Magistrate and their transit remand was obtained, and they will be produced before the jurisdictional FIR court on Friday, officials said.
Illegally issued SIM cards and mobile numbers are a major problem, as during the present times many services run on mobile phones and the cell numbers are used to share information etc. and these are often misused by the cyber criminals in implementing crimes.
