Lucknow: The UP special task force (STF) on Thursday arrested two wanted criminals from an organised gang that supplied illegally activated SIM cards to cybercrime syndicates across the country. The arrests were made in the Lal Gopalganj area under Nawabganj police station limits of Prayagraj district. The accused operated in connivance with telecom company officials to activate SIM cards using fraudulent means and forged documents.Those arrested have been identified as Sandeep Pandey (35) and Mohammed Naufeel (34). Sandeep is son of Raghvendra Pandey, resident of Suniyawan Ghasi ka Purwa, Hathigwan, Pratapgarh. He had a Rs 25,000 bounty declared against him by Chitrakoot police. Naufeel is the son of Hussain Arif, a resident of Kilhanapur Malaka Rajakpur, Hathigwan, Pratapgarh. He operates a mobile shop, ‘Marshal Mobile’, in Lal Gopalganj, Prayagraj.The STF seized four mobile phones, 239 blank SIM cards, 36 Aadhaar cards, three ATM cards, one driving licence, a voter ID card, two PAN cards and three biometric fingerprint scanners. Earlier, on May 15, STF had arrested six members of the gang from Chitrakoot, including its mastermind. During interrogation, Sandeep emerged as a key associate, following which a cash reward was declared for his arrest. Under the supervision of additional SP STF Vishal Vikram Singh, a cyber team developed technical intelligence. Based on human and technical inputs, Sandeep and Naufeel were apprehended on June 18 at 1:05pm in Prayagraj.Singh said that investigations revealed that the gang operated by forging customer identities to register multiple SIMs through POS IDs. Telecom officials, including territory sales executives (TSEs), were complicit in the racket. For each customer, two SIMs were activated: one handed to the customer, the other retained and sold to cybercrime syndicates. “Fake Aadhaar cards and forged documents were used for digital KYC. Once a batch of 200-300 pre-activated SIMs was ready, they were sold at rates ranging from Rs150-Rs 250 per SIM to various clients, including known cybercriminals,” he said.Sandeep, who previously worked at a telecom recharge firm, connected with Naufeel, a mobile shop owner, and began supplying SIMs sourced from one Shiv Dayal and some telecom employees. Naufeel, in turn, sold the SIMs to buyers such as Sihan Sheikh, currently residing in Mumbai. STF said the gang illegally activated over 10,000 SIM cards over the past 2-3 years. A case has been registered at Rajapur police station in Chitrakoot district under IPC and Information Technology Act.
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