Metro India News | Hyderabad

The Special Crime Team (SCT) of the Central Crime Station (CCS), Hyderabad City, along with Nampally Police, has apprehended two persons for possessing and attempting to sell illegally activated SIM cards.

Acting on credible information, the SCT on January 17, arrested the accused and seized 184 illegally activated SIM cards, including 150 Airtel and 34 Jio SIMs, along with four mobile phones. The arrested persons were identified as Nanevath Dinesh Kumar Naik (22), who runs a SIM distribution business under the name Lavanya Enterprises in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh, and Parnapally Sai Pradeep (24), an Airtel SIM promoter from the same district.

According to the police, the duo was operating a SIM distributor centre in Cuddapah and allegedly indulged in illegal activation of new Airtel SIM cards using the KYC documents and fingerprints of customers who visited their outlet to purchase Vodafone-Idea SIM cards. The customers were reportedly unaware that additional SIM cards were being activated in their names.

After activating the SIM cards fraudulently, the accused allegedly transported them to Hyderabad to sell them to buyers at higher prices. Police officials said such illegally activated SIM cards are often misused for criminal activities, posing a serious threat to public safety.

The operation was carried out by Inspector D. Bikshapathi of the Special Crime Team and his staff under the supervision of ACP G. Venkateswar Reddy. The accused and the seized material were handed over to Nampally Police Station for further investigation and legal action.

Police have advised citizens to remain cautious while purchasing new SIM cards or updating KYC details and to ensure such processes are carried out only at authorised network centres.