In a landmark case in Jharkhand, Akbar Hussain, a resident of Nawadih, Jamtara, was arrested for possessing an unprecedented number of 377 SIM cards along with multiple mobile phones, police confirmed on Thursday.
The arrest was made following a raid on Tuesday at Murgabani village under Karmatand police station, based on a tip-off. Police recovered 377 SIM cards, a flight ticket, three ATM cards, two mobile phones, and one Aadhaar card from Hussain’s possession.
According to Jamtara SP Rajkumar Mehta, this is possibly the first case in Jharkhand where such a vast number of SIM cards originating from another state were seized from a single individual. Hussain reportedly returned to Jamtara with this large consignment after procuring them in bulk.
Investigations revealed that Hussain frequently traveled to Assam, using flights from Kolkata and Ranchi, to buy SIM cards using forged identification documents. He would then return to Jamtara by train. These SIM cards were sold to cybercriminals at around Rs2,500 each and were used in fraudulent activities across Giridih, Deoghar, Jamtara, and neighboring districts of Bihar.
The scale of the SIM card supply from Assam points to the existence of a larger criminal syndicate. Police are actively investigating to identify and apprehend all accomplices.
A cybercrime case against Hussain had previously been registered with Jamtara police station in 2021.
