International SIM cards are banned from being used in India

On April 3, officers of the Bandra-based Unit-IX of the Detection of Crime Branch arrested Manish Shantilal Shah (42) for assisting notorious gangsters Ejaz Lakdawala, Chhota Rajan, Bunty Pandey, Guru Satam and Hemant Pujari.

Shah was also arrested for selling international SIM cards, which are banned in India, to criminals. The police seized 40 international SIM cards from the accused. Shah was arrested from his Kandivli residence.

Sr PI Vijay Salaskar and PI Shivaji Kolekar made the arrestThe crime
Says Shivaji Kolekar, police inspector, "On March 21, a businessman from Kandivli received extortion threats on his cell phone from Ejaz Lakdawala, who demanded Rs 10 lakh as protection money.

He was told that if he failed to deliver the amount he would be eliminated." The businessman registered a complaint and upon investigating, the police traced the calls to different phones and mobiles.

"The numbers registered on his phone pointed to a Switzerland number, which is why the businessman thought these were international calls," says Kolekar.

However, the caller allegedly began describing to the businessman what he was wearing, his actions and physical attributes, even as he was speaking to him. "The businessman realised this was possible only if the caller could see him," points out Kolekar.

Crime branch officials realised they were dealing with an international racket, which was operational in Mumbai and New Delhi, where the callers use foreign SIM cards that were banned from being used in India. "The cards were being sold dirt cheap at Rs 500. Many were bought from the extortionist in Ghatkopar for Rs 700," informs Kolekar.

Incidentally, the actual price of these SIM cards start at Rs 2,000. According to the police, in order for a buyer to legally use these SIM cards, they have to procure permission from VSNL and the Telegraph Authority. "These cards were just being sold by the extortionist and being used without any