Four men have been taken in custody by the Delhi Police for allegedly sending a large number of international SIM cards to Vietnam every month, to be used by people for gaming applications and social media profiteering. These SIM cards were concealed in a cavity inside a diary.
Police said the accused – Hemant (26), Mukul Kumar (22), Kanhaiya Gupta (29), and Anil Kumar (20) — were part of a syndicate that used to get SIM cards issued in the name of labourers and sold them to people in Vietnam at higher rates.
They used to lure labourers with a minimal amount of money. These accused received payment through a cryptocurrency app banned in India, according to police.
The issue came to light when the IGI unit of Delhi Police got a complaint from the Manager of Operations of FedEx courier, at the cargo terminal of the airport.
Cops said a shipment intended for Vietnam having a bulk quantity of SIM cards was found during physical checks. In carbon paper, these SIMs were covered and kept inside a diary, in a space made by cutting the pages, the complaint said.
“500 SIM cards were found in three separate packages,” said DCP (IGI) Usha Rangnani, reported The Indian Express.
“The SIM cards, the accused claimed, were being used in gaming apps in Vietnam and to increase the likes of social media accounts for profiteering,” the DCP said.
Further course of proceedings in the case will pertain to the individuals in Vietnam who were ordering the SIM cards, added police.
A police investigation found that most SIM card owners were factory workers from Loha Mandi in UP’s Agra, and SIMs were issued from point-of-sales centres in nearby areas. Mukul gave workers Rs 200 each for getting a SIM registered in their names.
Mukul then sold these SIMs to Kanhaiya and Hemant for Rs 300/person and to Anil for Rs 500/person, the report added.
