Cyber slavery: UP cops bust Southeast Asia racket's India link for SIM cards, OTPs

Saharanpur (UP), July 10 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday claimed to have unearthed a racket that stole the identities of Indian citizens and used them to facilitate cyber frauds committed from Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

The Saharanpur police said a group of people allegedly secured SIM cards fraudulently by getting them issued on stolen identities and provided OTPs to foreign thugs, who used them to commit large-scale online frauds and human trafficking through digital platforms.

Cyber slavery refers to a form of digital exploitation where individuals are trafficked or coerced — often through fraud or force — into performing cybercrimes such as online scams, phishing or fraud operations, typically under abusive and inhumane conditions.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ashish Tiwari told reporters that the investigation began after an FIR was registered on December 29, 2024, at the Saharanpur Cyber Crime police station on a complaint filed by Rohit Dhiman, a local resident, who alleged that his Aadhaar credentials had been misused to issue SIM cards without his knowledge or consent.

Acting on the complaint, police identified a gang that was systematically acquiring Aadhaar and PAN details, often through deceit, to SIMs issued, Tiwari said.

These SIMs were then activated and used to deliver OTPs to cybercriminals operating in Southeast Asia, who would use them to log into Indian WhatsApp accounts and exploit them for illicit online activities, the SSP added.

"One of the key accused, Vipin Kumar, was found to have issued 873 SIM cards by manipulating Aadhaar information," the officer said and added that he allegedly collected fingerprints and photographs under the guise of enrolling people for government welfare schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Without informing the individuals, Vipin used their Aadhaar details to get multiple SIMs issued. These SIMs were then handed over to individuals involved in delivering OTPs to foreign clients, the officer explained.

He further said that another accused, Sachin Kumar, operated as a point-of-sale (PoS) agent for telecom companies and would collect customer data, which ultimately helped in activating SIM cards.

"On several occasions, he falsely informed customers that their SIMs could not be issued due to technical issues while he had already used their credentials to activate multiple SIMs," Tiwari said.

According to police, Sachin alone was responsible for activating over 1,000 SIM cards, which he then distributed to accomplices.

Two women, identified as Huma and Anterfa, from Uttarakhand, are also part of the racket. They allegedly received over 1,700 SIM cards from Sachin and used them to deliver OTPs in exchange for payments ranging from Rs 80 to Rs 100 per OTP.

The two women were part of international WhatsApp groups claiming to offer online jobs and were trained in fraudulent practices by another accused, Mohtsin, who is already in jail on charges of forgery.

Police have also identified other accomplices, including Sajan Kaushik, another PoS agent, who provided SIMs to Huma and Vipin Kumar's brothers, Dushyant and Mangeram.

Searches are on to arrest Vipin's brothers, police said.

Further investigations are underway to trace financial transactions linked to the racket and establish the full extent of the network, the police said, adding that the accused face charges under various provisions of the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. PTI COR KIS AMJ AMJ