New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) Health camps offering subsidised medicines were allegedly acting as fronts for collection of Aadhaar and biometric details of citizens for activation of e-SIM cards for cybercriminals, with Delhi Police arresting two men suspected of activating over 3,000 such SIMs in a year.
The accused have been linked to fraud complaints involving around Rs 2.64 crore, police said.
The Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police arrested Jitendra Singh (29) and Brajesh Kumar (21) from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh during a raid on the intervening night of October 20 and 21.
"The accused allegedly organised fake health camps in villages, offering medicines at subsidised rates to collect Aadhaar and biometric details of villagers, which were then allegedly misused to obtain SIM or e-SIM cards," a senior police officer said.
The officer said investigation has linked SIM cards allegedly activated by the duo to more than 20 complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), involving suspected fraud of around Rs 2.64 crore.
The case originated from a digital arrest complaint where a person was allegedly threatened with legal action over a series of video calls and coerced into transferring Rs 1.64 crore through six RTGS transactions to six bank accounts over nearly two weeks.
A case was registered in this connection at Special Cell's IFSO police station, the officer said.
"Technical analysis of mobile numbers and device-related data led investigators to Vrindavan-Mathura, where the alleged e-SIM supply network was uncovered.
"During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they had been procuring, activating and supplying physical SIM cards and e-SIMs for around a year, selling approximately 20 to 30 e-SIMs daily," the officer added.
They allegedly purchased activated e-SIMs for Rs 800 to Rs 1,200 each and sold them for around Rs 2,000. Payments were allegedly facilitated through USD Tether cryptocurrency.
Police have also found communications with foreign-based contacts and are examining possible links to cyber fraud and SIM-box systems.
Three mobile phones have been recovered from the accused. Police have alleged that the duo frequently changed phones and destroyed old devices to evade detection.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)