Mumbai SIM Card Fraud: Khar Police Arrest Bandra Man For Selling Activated SIMs Without KYC; 39 Cards Seized

Mumbai: Khar police on Tuesday arrested a 38-year-old Bandra man for allegedly selling SIM cards registered in other people’s names without proper documents or KYC, in violation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) rules and the Telecom Act, 2023.

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The police said that, acting on a tip-off on September 1, police sent a decoy customer to the accused, Iman Abdul Jabbar Shaikh, near a KFC outlet on Linking Road, Khar West. The decoy told Shaikh that he did not have an Aadhaar card and wanted a new SIM. Shaikh allegedly offered to provide an activated SIM without requiring any documents for Rs 2,000.

The decoy subsequently purchased two activated SIM cards for Rs 4,000. Police used eight Rs 500 notes from secret funds during the operation and recovered the money from Shaikh after apprehending him. Police also seized 39 SIM cards and a mobile phone from his possession.

According to police, Shaikh claimed to be a mobile network promoter and said he had been selling SIM cards from a stall in Bandra for around a year. He allegedly told investigators that he procured the cards from a distributor.

A preliminary inquiry revealed that Shaikh allegedly collected documents from genuine customers, including labourers and daily-wage workers, and used them without their knowledge to activate three or four additional SIM cards for each legitimate connection.

Police said the two SIM cards sold to the decoy had been activated. Investigators are now examining how many such SIM cards Shaikh had sold and whether they were used by cyber fraudsters to open mule bank accounts or by anti-social elements.

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