The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Thursday busted a “fake telephone exchange” run illegally at Kondhwa area and detained one person. The team has seized seven SIM boxes, 3,788 SIM cards, nine Wi-Fi routers, antennas, inverters and laptops from the facility.
The sleuths raided flat number 305 located on the first floor of MA Complex in Mithanagar in the presence of telecommunication department officials and residents.
According to the officials, the illegal telephone exchange caused revenue loss to the department of telecom and could also be used to assist terrorist activities.
One Naushad Ahmed Siddiqui, 32, of Bhiwandi, who was running the unlawful telephone exchange, has been detained.
Officials said the international calls made to India were diverted to evade government surveillance. India-bound calls from foreign countries were picked at the Kondhwa facility and routed to different numbers.
The police have filed a case under Section 318 (4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and relevant sections of the Indian Telegraph Act, the Telecommunications Act, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act.
A Pune court has remanded the accused in ATS police custody.
{{/usCountry}}A Pune court has remanded the accused in ATS police custody.
{{/usCountry}}Preliminary investigation has revealed that Siddiqui was operating the unauthorised telephone exchange for money and is believed to have shifted from Bhiwandi to Pune about eight months ago.
“The SIM box fraud is a setup where fraudsters team up with partners abroad to route international calls through the internet using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). These calls will appear as calls with local/national CLI (calling line identity). Such illegal telecom setups pose threats to national security in addition to causing revenue loss to the telecom service providers,” states a government release on illegal exchange fraud.
The police suspect people based in foreign countries are linked to the illegal telephone exchange.
Meanwhile, residents of the building where the exchange facility was busted expressed shock at the police action. Ali Mohammad Saifee said, “We came to know about the illegal activity only after the police raid. The flat used to remain closed always.”
Zohra Sheikh said, “We have never seen the occupant of the flat.”