Delhi: SIM smuggling racket busted with 5 nabbed for aiding cross-border gaming network

New Delhi: The IGI Unit of the Delhi Police has busted a SIM smuggling racket with alleged links to an international online gaming network, officials said on Saturday.

Five people, all from Madhya Pradesh, were arrested for fraudulently procuring and sending 398 activated Indian SIM cards abroad, primarily to Dubai, police in a statement said.

The racket came to light when the CISF intercepted one Sunil Rawat at Terminal-3 of IGI Airport on February 15.

Rawat, an Indian national scheduled to board a flight to Dubai, was found in possession of 398 active SIM cards, registered under different names, read the statement.

Investigations revealed that Rawat was allegedly acting on instructions from a Dubai-based contact named Faisal, who had offered him Rs 35,000 and a job in exchange for transporting the SIM cards.

"During interrogation, Rawat disclosed that the SIM cards were arranged by his friends in Madhya Pradesh and sent to him via courier," it read.

The main suppliers of the SIMs were identified as Ashwin Kumar and Ankit Kumawat, both natives of Madhya Pradesh.

A police team was dispatched to Ujjain and Dewas districts, leading to the arrest of Ankit Kumawat.

According to police, he procured the SIM cards by misleading locals with offers of free data and calls.

Each SIM card was sold at Rs 500 to Ashwin Kumar, who later passed them on to his brother Manish Kumar and associate Faisal in Dubai, it read.

Ashwin Kumar, who operates a small trading business in Dewas, too was arrested.

He reportedly confessed to supplying the SIMs and revealed that Faisal used them for creating accounts and rigging gaming applications, earning points that were later sold for profit.

By and by, three more people, Manish Kumar (Ashwin's brother), Lokendra Sendhav, and Dwarka Prasad, all residents of Dewas, were nabbed.

Lokendra had allegedly allowed his bank account to be used for receiving payments, while Prasad facilitated contact between the accused parties for a commission.

Police said Faisal, the suspected kingpin, remains at large and efforts are on to trace him.

"The use of Indian SIM cards in cross-border digital operations poses a serious threat. These cards were potentially being used as tools for masking identities and enabling fraud on online platforms," police said.