Bengaluru police have seized 10 SIM box devices capable of handling 320 connections from two apartments in Whitefield, uncovering telecom setups allegedly linked to digital arrest scams, sextortion and other cyber frauds across India.
The operation was carried out by Whitefield cybercrime police in coordination with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), following a complaint from two major telecom service providers about unauthorised use of SIM cards in a SIM box arrangement operating in Whitefield and Kadugodi. The case was registered on August 26 after complaints from the chief circle nodal officers of the telecom companies, according to the report.
Two men, Maske Bapurav Ramrao alias Niranjan Maske, 20, and Yesh Patil, 21, were arrested. Two 17-year-old juveniles were also detained. All four are from Gondia district in Maharashtra, the report said.
Police searched two facilities allegedly run by the same criminal network. At an apartment in Kadugodi, investigators recovered six SIM box devices, each fitted with 32 slots. Together, the devices had capacity for 192 connections. Four additional devices, also with 32 slots each, were seized from a second apartment in Pattandur Agrahara, taking the total capacity across both locations to 320 SIM connections.
The devices were configured with e-SIM-provisioned connections from telecom service providers. SIM boxes can route large volumes of calls or messages through multiple telecom connections, allowing operators to run communication systems from a single location. In this case, police said the infrastructure was connected to suspected digital arrest scams, sextortion and financial cyber frauds affecting victims in different parts of the country.
The investigation also led police to Tiroda in Maharashtra’s Gondia district, where SIM cards were allegedly sold and converted into e-SIM profiles for use in the illegal networks. Police said the accused were involved in activities connected with the e-SIM supply chain, including the procurement and provisioning of telecom resources used by the network.
The case highlights the role of telecom resources and residential premises in cybercrime investigations. Rather than relying only on online identities or remote digital accounts, the suspected operation involved physical devices, activated connections and apartments used as telecom hubs. The action therefore required coordination between local cybercrime investigators and telecom authorities.
Police have not yet established the actual number of victims, the total amount lost or the full extent of the suspected network. Preliminary leads, however, point to possible losses running into hundreds of crores of rupees, according to the report. The investigation remains focused on tracing the supply chain, identifying the wider network and determining how the connections were used in individual fraud cases.
