The special task force of the Odisha crime branch has arrested three people, including an ITI teacher, on the charge of fraudulently procuring a large number of SIM cards in others’ names and selling the one-time passwords (OTPs) to various clients, including foreign nationals.
The accused were also in the business of creating and selling mule accounts through social media groups, police said.
Based on an intelligence input about one-time passwords being shared among some criminals, the task force conducted raids and apprehended three persons — Pathanisamant Lenka, 35, an ITI teacher; Saroj Kumar Nayak, 26, and Somya Patnaik, 19. All of them belong to Nayagarh district of Odisha.
The task force said in a media release: “During raids, various incriminating materials such as mobile phones, pre-activated SIM cards and laptops were seized from their possession. The accused persons could not give any satisfactory answer regarding sharing of OTPs and other information to foreign nationals, for which they have been arrested and forwarded to the court of Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM), Bhubaneswar, on Saturday.”
Deputy inspector general of police J.N. Pankaj told reporters on Sunday: “We have seized materials such as 19 costly mobile phones, including an Apple mobile, 47 SIM cards, 61 ATM cards and 23 SIM covers. They were fraudulently procuring large numbers of SIM cards in other names and selling the OTPs (linked/generated using the SIMs) to various clients, including some Pakistani intelligence operatives. In return, they would be paid by Pakistani agents based in India. For this, they are taking the help of social media.”
Sharing details about the modus operandi, Pankaj said: “These OTPs were used to create various accounts/ channels on social media and also on online shopping sites. These were also used in opening email accounts. People will think that these accounts are owned by an Indian but actually operated from Pakistan.”
The DIG added: “The accused were in touch with a female Pakistani intelligence agent who was arrested last year in a honey-trap case in Rajasthan. The investigation is on.”
