Bengaluru’s Whitefield cybercrime police have arrested four Maharashtra-based individuals after raiding two alleged SIM box centres in the city and seizing 10 SIM box devices, according to a report by Prajavani. Police suspect that the centres were operating under a single criminal network.
The raids were conducted in the Whitefield and Kadugodi areas after a complaint from the chief nodal officers of Bharti Airtel Limited in Bengaluru. The complaint raised suspicions that Airtel SIM cards were being used illegally in the two locations.
A preliminary investigation has indicated that the two centres may have been connected to the same network, the report said. Police are also investigating a suspected link between the network and digital arrest cases, sextortion incidents and online investment fraud reported across the country.
The seizure of 10 SIM box devices is central to the investigation. The report did not provide details of the specific premises raided, the identities of those arrested, the number of SIM cards allegedly involved or the sections under which the cases were registered.
The action follows a complaint-based investigation involving a telecom company’s nodal officers and the city’s cybercrime police. Such coordination places telecom usage records and suspected misuse of subscriber connections within the wider investigation into organised digital fraud. However, the report did not state whether investigators had established a direct connection between the seized devices and any specific fraud case.
The suspected links to digital arrest, sextortion and online investment fraud remain part of the preliminary investigation and have not been established as final findings. No details were provided on whether additional arrests, further raids or a formal charge sheet are expected.
The Whitefield and Kadugodi raids underline the role of local cybercrime units in tracing suspected misuse of telecom infrastructure inside Bengaluru’s rapidly expanding technology and residential corridors. The next steps in the case will depend on the police examination of the seized devices, the SIM cards and other evidence gathered during the operation.
