The Kolkata police on Monday arrested Suvendu Gayen (30), a resident of Picnic Garden Road, and Jitendra Agarwal (43) in connection with a SIM card fraud case. Gayen was apprehended at his office-cum-shop in Tiljala, where the police seized over 1,200 SIM cards, a fingerprint scanner, three mobile phones, and around Rs2 lakh in cash.
Following Gayen’s arrest, he provided information about Agarwal, who was subsequently arrested around Monday midnight. Authorities suspect that the duo is part of a larger SIM card activation racket.
The investigation, which followed a series of raids on February 24 and 25, had already led to the arrest of eight individuals. Through interrogations, investigators learned about Gayen’s involvement in the scam. Gayen, a point of sales (POS) operator based in Tiljala, used a fingerprint scanner to collect biometric data from unsuspecting customers. He would then activate SIM cards using their credentials.
Police explained that, during the SIM card registration process, customers were asked to provide a fingerprint impression on a biometric device. Fraudsters would apply a glue-like substance on the scanner to emboss the fingerprint. When a customer’s fingerprint was scanned again, the fraudsters used the previous print to activate multiple SIM cards.
