The West District Police of Jodhpur has uncovered a significant cyber fraud syndicate that activated SIM cards illegally and supplied them to cybercriminals. The operation, which led to financial scams amounting to Rs50 lakh, has seen the arrest of two individuals so far.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Rajarshi Raj confirmed that intelligence reports led to the discovery of the syndicate. The focus was on a SIM retailer named Rahul Mobile Wala, based on Salawas Road, Jodhpur. He was allegedly issuing fraudulent Airtel SIM cards for personal profit. A special investigative team, including Basni Police Station Officer Nitin Dave and Cyber Cell in-charge Prem Chaudhary, was formed to investigate.
Upon questioning, complainant Suraj Singh revealed he had approached Rahul Kumar Jha’s store to port his BSNL SIM in September 2024. However, during this process, Jha and his associates, Mohammad Iqbal and Mohammad Sharif, deceitfully obtained Singh’s personal details—Aadhaar information, fingerprints, and photos. Instead of activating the requested SIM, the group fraudulently activated multiple SIM cards under Singh’s name.
Upon discovering the fraud, Singh lodged a complaint, which led to the subsequent arrests of the accused.
The arrested individuals are:
Rahul Kumar Jha (son of Raman Jha), a resident of Rajnagar, Madhubani, Bihar.
Mohammad Iqbal (son of Ibrahim Ali), from Denok Lohawat, Phalodi, residing in Indira Nagar, Jodhpur.
The authorities have recovered a large number of items from the syndicate’s possession:
104 fraudulently activated SIM cards
31 mobile phones
Two fingerprint scanning devices
A checkbook and five ATM cards
Nine signed blank checks from other individuals
Aadhaar and PAN cards
A detailed ledger of fraudulent transactions
Rs50 Lakh Cyber Fraud Linked to Fake SIM Cards
The investigation revealed that the racket had supplied over 300 fake SIM cards to cybercriminals, which were used in scams worth nearly Rs50 lakh across India. A total of 38 cyber fraud complaints have already been linked to these fake SIMs. Police are conducting further analysis to track how the SIMs were used in these fraudulent activities.
Authorities are also working to identify additional members of the syndicate and to track down the cybercriminals who utilized the fraudulent SIM cards for their schemes.
The case has raised serious concerns about security vulnerabilities in telecom authentication processes, especially in the misuse of SIM cards for cybercrimes. The investigation is ongoing, with police committed to uncovering more details of the syndicate’s operations.
