Bandra Man Arrested on Linking Road for Selling Pre-Activated SIM Cards
Khar police on Tuesday arrested a 38-year-old Bandra resident for allegedly selling SIM cards registered in other people’s names without proper verification or KYC documents. The illegal trade was carried out in violation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India rules and the Telecom Act, 2023.
The accused, identified as Iman Abdul Jabbar Shaikh, was caught following a sting operation. Acting on a tip-off received on September 1, police sent a decoy customer to meet Shaikh near a KFC outlet situated on Linking Road in Khar West. The decoy informed Shaikh that he did not possess an Aadhaar card but required a new connection, prompting the accused to offer an already activated SIM card without paperwork for Rs 2,000.
The decoy customer proceeded to purchase two activated SIM cards from Shaikh for a total sum of Rs 4,000. Investigators utilised eight Rs 500 currency notes drawn from secret department funds to execute the purchase. Once the transaction concluded, waiting police personnel moved in, apprehended Shaikh, and recovered the marked cash from him.
During a search of the accused, police seized 39 SIM cards along with a mobile phone. Following his apprehension, Shaikh told investigators that he worked as a mobile network promoter and had been operating a stall in Bandra for about a year to sell connections. He claimed to have procured the SIM cards directly from a distributor.
A preliminary inquiry revealed Shaikh's alleged modus operandi. Investigators found that he collected identification documents from genuine customers, including daily-wage workers and labourers. Shaikh then allegedly used those documents without the customers' knowledge or consent to fraudulently activate three or four additional SIM cards alongside each legitimate connection.
Police confirmed that both SIM cards sold to the decoy had already been activated. Investigators are now scrutinising his past sales to determine how many fraudulent SIM cards Shaikh distributed, and whether any of those numbers were utilised by anti-social elements or by cyber fraudsters to operate mule bank accounts.
