Chandigarh, Aug 2 — A transnational cybercrime syndicate operating out of Cambodia and Southeast Asia has been busted, with 10 persons arrested for their roles in a massive SIM box-based scam that defrauded thousands of Indians, police said. The breakthrough came after a 74-year-old retired school principal, Manjeet Behl, lost ₹1.01 crore to scammers impersonating CBI officials in a case of so-called “digital arrest” fraud.
The case was registered at the cybercrime police station on July 21, prompting a high-level investigation led by SP (Cyber) Geetanjali Khandelwal, DSP A Venkatesh, and SHO Inspector Eram Rizvi.
The syndicate reportedly operated from Cambodia, Hong Kong, Laos, and Myanmar, using Dinstar SIM boxes — telecom devices capable of generating over 2 lakh automated scam calls per day. These calls spoofed government agencies like the CBI, TRAI, or FedEx, coercing victims through WhatsApp video calls into transferring money under the pretext of securing their “release.” Fake police station backdrops and forged government documents were used to convince victims.
Authorities revealed that Indian youth were recruited via Telegram and Facebook, promised daily payouts to host these SIM boxes at home. These local operatives were paid in cryptocurrency, and the estimated monthly economic damage from such scams across India is ₹1,000 crore.
The first major breakthrough came on July 24, when police raided a location in Meerut and arrested Parvez Chauhan (33). He was running a SIM box for 50 USDT per day. Digital forensics of his phone revealed chats with foreign handlers and crypto-based payments.
Subsequent operations led to arrests in Ludhiana and Amritsar, netting Vijay Kumar Shah, Krishna Shah, Suhail Akhtar, and Shubham Mehra alias Sunny. Shubham was found operating six active SIM boxes with 400 SIM cards, multiple phones, and modems from a rented property.
On July 31, five more suspects — Akash Kumar, Ajit Kumar, Saroj Kumar, Abhishek Kumar, and Vipin Kumar — were arrested for their involvement in the illegal procurement and activation of SIM cards used in the cyber racket.
Seizures and Financial Recovery
From the arrested individuals, police recovered:
- From Chauhan: 1 SIM box, broadband router, 70–80 SIM cards, and 3 mobile phones.
- From Mehra: 6 SIM boxes, approx. 400 SIM cards, 11 phones, 1 laptop, 2 modems, and a router.
Investigators have secured ₹36.98 lakh by placing legal claims on linked bank accounts. All digital evidence has been shared with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) for further analysis and to trace connections with cybercrime networks nationwide.
Authorities are now probing possible links to handlers based in Taiwan, China, Malaysia, and Cambodia, with efforts ongoing to dismantle the broader international network.
