Cuttack (Odisha): A day after the Cyber Cell of the Odisha Crime branch busted a pre-activated SIM card racket in Dehenkanal on Monday, the Crime branch team investigating the case said that Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla’s name was also used to register one of the SIM cards. According to sources, the gang had created a WhatsApp account using a BSNL mobile number. They had reportedly used the photograph of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and were cheating people by asking them for money. Subsequently, the Cyber Cell of the Crime branch found that the number was used consecutively in three different mobiles in Talabarkot village in Dhenkanal district. Later, officials managed to nab three persons, including Sai Prakash Das and Avinash Nayak, who we're dealing with the sale and activation of SIMs of different service providers.
According to Crime branch reports, the cyber fraudsters registered a BSNL SIM card under the Speaker’s name. The accused had also registered a WhatsApp account under Om Birla’s name. The Odisha Crime branch on Sunday recovered a huge cache of pre-activated SIM cards, along with several mobile phones, and arrested three cyber fraudsters in this connection.
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The Crime branch police conducted a raid in Dhenkanal and recovered 19,641 pre-activated SIM cards, 48 mobile phones and Rs 14.32 lakh cash from their possession. The Crime branch will also seek remand of the arrested accused for interrogation to unearth other details regarding the gang. The Delhi police had initially flagged the number and alerted the Odisha Crime branch, which found that the number was used consecutively in three different mobiles in Talabarkot village in the Dhenkanal district. The same activities were also going on in the area with SIM cards of other service providers.
