Mumbai Police bust illegal telephone exchange, nab accused from Govandi

This picture has been used for representational purpose only

The Mumbai Police Crime Branch along with Military Intelligence Wing of Jammu and Kashmir Unit jointly raided a flat in Govandi on Saturday and have unearthed illegal VoIP Exchange. Cops have recovered 213 SIM cards and 5 SIM box which were used to route the international calls inside Indian terrain reflecting it as local calls. Intrestingly, a 38-year-old accused arrested by the cops was nabbed in 2017 for same offence in Bhiwandi.

In May 2020, Mumbai Police received a tip off from Military Intelligence (MI) J&K unit aboit a parallel and illegal telephone exchange. Several calls were made from Gulf countries to defence establishments in India. All the calls, which were Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) were converted into local calls through a SIMbox and routed to various sectors of India, especially Jammu and Kashmir.

Mumbai Crime Surges In May

illustration by Atul Jain

"After receiving the inputs, our teams started working together and found out that, 2 SIM cards have been used to route calls, prepaid ones, having activation circle of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The call pattern from both the SIMs were fixed, i.e. more outgoing calls and more Incoming SMS. The IMEI number for the both numbers were found abnormal," a senior Crime branch official said.

"Such calls can be made for spying or passing important information too. Also, as there is no control over such calls from Indian agencies and telecom companies, it incurs loss to the nation too," the officer added. After intensive work, the cops located the place from where the calls were getting diverted in Govandi.

A joint team of Crime Branch Unit 6 and 11 raided Natwar Parekh Compound, Indian Oil Nagar, Govandi and arrested Sameer Kadar Alwari (38). "The accused was arrested earlier for same offence in 2017 from Thane with other 5 accused. He was jailed and came out on bail few months ago. He has again indulged in same activity," said DCP (Detection 1) Akbar Pathan.

Cops have seized, 3 SIM box having 32 SIM Slot and one SIM box with 16 SIM slot with 92 SIM. Another SIMbox with 32 SIM slot. 121 other SIM cards, one laptop, two routers and 10 mobile phones. The accused will be produced in court on Sunday.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news