Pune News: Two More Arrested In Illegal Telephone Exchange Case
Pune News: Two More Arrested In Illegal Telephone Exchange Case
The Pune unit of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested Abdul Kasim Siddiqui (34), alias Rehan, from Bhiwandi, and Pravin Gopal Shrivastav (29) from Uttar Pradesh in connection with an illegal telephone exchange operation. This brings the total number of arrests in the case to five.
Rehan and Pravin were previously detained by the Thane ATS in a similar case. They were brought into Pune ATS custody on Monday for their role in the illegal exchange operating from an apartment in Kondhwa. The arrest follows a raid on August 24, where ATS and central telecom department officials seized seven SIM boxes with 3,788 SIM cards, nine Wi-Fi routers, an antenna, an inverter, and a laptop from an apartment in MS Complex, Mitha Nagar.
Previously arrested were Naushad Ahmed Siddiqui (32) from Uttar Pradesh, Md Ujjair Shaukat Ali Ansari alias Sonu (29) from Bhiwandi, and Piyush Subhashrao Gajbhiye (19) from Wardha. All five are now in ATS custody until September 13.
The ATS is investigating the network’s mastermind and has found 77 additional SIM cards dumped near a nullah at Bhandari Bridge. So far, 3,865 SIM cards have been seized out of 6,820 provided by Pravin. The probe also includes financial transactions, with Gajbhiye allegedly earning Rs 9 lakh for generating OTPs. The ATS is exploring connections with WhatsApp accounts and crypto transactions.
This illegal operation reportedly provided routing services to foreign countries, causing significant losses to telecom providers.
