Sriganganagar, Oct. 1 — Cyber Police in Sriganganagar have busted a cyber fraud racket, arresting two youths from Anupgarh near the India-Pakistan border for supplying duplicate SIM cards to an international network operating out of Cambodia.
DSP Kuldeep Walia, in-charge of the Cyber Police Station, said the accused, Navdish Mann and Virender Singh, allegedly duped villagers by misusing their IDs to obtain additional SIM cards, which were then sent through a Punjab-based handler to Cambodia. “The suspects misused the identities of 12 men and women, obtaining two SIM cards per person,” Walia said.
The investigation began on August 26 after Airtel’s nodal officer, Prabhat, filed a complaint about multiple SIMs registered in the names of border villagers being active in Cambodia. The suspects reportedly used a gurudwara loudspeaker in Banda Colony to announce a free SIM card distribution, luring villagers to participate. Mann, a former SIM card issuer, and his associates clicked two photos of each applicant—one for the genuine SIM and another to fraudulently obtain a duplicate online.
Investigators also identified Akashdeep of Sriganganagar, currently absconding, as part of the network. The Punjab-based handler allegedly paid Rs 150 per duplicate SIM before forwarding them to the international fraud group.
Both Mann and Singh were produced in court on Wednesday and remanded to police custody, while efforts continue to trace the Punjab conduit responsible for sending the SIMs abroad.
