BENGALURU: The CCB police have arrested four men who were allegedly selling pre-activated SIM cards to those who had no valid documents, by using the credentials of other customers.
The accused have been identified as Mohammed Ismail, 43, and his brother, Mohammed Jaffar, 38, both residents of Sai Nagar in Vidyaranyapura, Chandrashekhar, 41, of Maheshwari Nagar in T. Dasarahalli and a native of Nelamangala, and Vasu, 19, of Srinivasapura in Yelahanka.
The police had credible information about the racket being run from HMT Telecom Mobile Sales and Service shop, operating out of the house of Ismail and Jaffar. The accused charged a premium and sold SIM cards to those who did not have any valid documents.
“Using the documents provided by other customers, the accused activated the SIM cards and then sold them to those who did not have proper papers. The shop was raided and the accused were arrested,” the police said.
Ismail and Jaffar were running the racket for the last two years, while the two others joined them three months ago. “The accused charged Rs 500 extra per SIM card,” the police said.
The police recovered 226 pre-activated SIM cards, photos and documents of customers, cash, mobile phones and other goods from the accused. A case was registered in the Yelahanka New Town police station.
The CCB police arrested seven people for a similar offence in January. The arrest of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militant, Shibigiri, from Electronic City had revealed that he was using a pre-activated SIM card.
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