Jodhpur Police busts major cyber fraud racket conning Indians from Cambodia; six arrested

Jodhpur, Jan 20 (PTI) Police here have busted a major cyber fraud racket operating from Cambodia and arrested six Indian nationals linked to it, officials said.

The racket also includes four Malaysian nationals against whom a Look Out Circular has been issued, they said.

The gang members in India sourced SIM cards for these Malaysian nationals, who used them to run fraudulent investment and trading schemes from Cambodia, they explained.

According to Jodhpur Police Commissioner Om Prakash, the investigation so far has revealed that around 5,300 SIM cards were used in committing fraud to the tune of Rs 1,100 crore, with the victims spread across 32 states and Union Territories.

He said the matter came to light after two complaints of online investment fraud were filed at Bhagat ki Kothi and Dev Nagar police stations in Jodhpur.

"œWe found that the mobile numbers used to contact the complainants were operated from Cambodia. Interestingly, these were Indian phone numbers and the SIM cards were issued from different Indian states," the commissioner said.

The finding led experts to initiate a reverse trail tracking of these SIM cards with the help of Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

It was found that around 3,600 Indian SIM cards were operated from Cambodia, out of which 5,300 were used to carry out cyber fraud activities to the tune of Rs 1,100 crore in India.

Further investigation led the police to a SIM card holder, Murad Khan, in Jodhpur. This SIM card was operated from Cambodia between April 11 (date of activation) and October 9, 2025 and was used to siphon off Rs 89,42,225 from a person in Telangana.

"On learning this, Murad Khan gave a statement at Basni police station, following which we arrested a local SIM card agent, Prakash Bheel. His interrogation led to other gang members, who sourced SIM cards from customers (like Murad Khan) by duping them and provided these to operators in Malaysia through one Rahul Jha," Om Prakash said.

Those arrested so far have been identified as Prakash Bheel, Mohammed Sharif, Harish Malakar, Ramawtar, Hemant Panwar and Sandeep Bhatt, while three gang members, including Rahul Jha, are yet to be traced.

The commissioner said the four Malaysian nationals involved in the racket have been identified as Lee Jian Hui, Yu Ming Chin, Low Di Khen and Leong Ken Neth.

"œWe have issued a Look Out Circular against them and have initiated the process for the deactivation of all the 5,300 SIM cards in coordination with police from other states," he said.

Besides this, an SIT is being set up at the Commissionerate level to completely uproot the racket. The SIT, with help from I4C, would focus on gaining access to these call centres operating on foreign soil, he said. PTI COR RUK RUK