Duo held for illegally routing international telephone calls as local

Bengaluru: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested two men for running an international illegal telephone racket that converted foreign calls into local ones.

The arrested are Fayaz MA, 31, and Mohammed Saffaf, 30, both from Mallapuram, Kerala. They were operating out of a rented house in Immdhalli for the past six months.

Fayaz

"A foreign handler, based in a Gulf country, received money through the hawala route. The suspects ensured foreign calls were received locally at a low cost,” a police officer said.

“The duo used SIM boxes and illegal apps to route international calls as local ones. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is yet to assess the financial loss. We are also verifying if these methods were used in any crimes,” the officer added.

The suspects earned around Rs 5 lakh per month and sourced illegal SIM cards from foreign countries. Officials said many Gulf-based immigrants, particularly labourers, used the service to contact their families in India.

The police said the racket not only caused revenue loss to telecom providers, but also posed a threat to national security. A detailed probe is underway.

The police seized 702 SIM cards, nine SIM boxes, six routers, laptops, and mobile phones from the suspects.