Odisha police busts SIM box racket in Bhubaneswar; accused held

Bhubaneswar deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Prateek Singh said that there was a set-up box and SIM boxes of suspicious character.

“The equipment can be used to make international and national calls without the receiver getting scope to know the source of the call. The device is also used to operate several crimes including terrorist activities. We have recovered seven SIM boxes and over 500 SIM cards,” DCP Singh.

Singh further said that a forensic team has been called and the devices will be seized as per procedure. A detailed investigation will soon be launched. Senior police officials said a youth, identified as Raju Mandal has been detained in this connection.

Salim Khan, the house owner said, “The youth had taken the house on rent some seven months back. He had informed me that his works spread in Kolkata and other parts of the country. Initially, he had informed us that his family would stay with him. We had given the house on rent after an agreement and he was paying rent on time. Nobody used to visit him at this location. As the house used to remain locked, we could not sense anything."

According to Khan, the youth had claimed to be working for an advertising company. "I could not sense anything wrong as he was not visiting the place regularly as was staying outside," said Khan.

A SIM box (also called a SIM bank) is a device used as part of a VoIP gateway installation. It contains a number of SIM cards, which are linked to the gateway but housed and stored separately from it.

The SIM box operator can route calls through the VoIP connection and connect the call as local traffic, allowing the box's operator to bypass high international rates and to reduce prices charged by local mobile network operators (MNO). In a single hour, more than 1000 calls can be made.