Mumbai Crime Branch arrests five in illegal telecom data racket, two constables among them

The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police has arrested five alleged suppliers of illegally obtained telecom data, including two police constables serving in Jharkhand and Bihar, in a case that began with a man accused of posing as a police inspector and promising to recover lost or stolen mobile phones.

According to the police, the investigation has identified nine accused in a network that allegedly supplied call detail records (CDRs), subscriber detail records (SDRs) and mobile phone location information. Five of them were arrested across Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Bihar. Seven mobile phones have been seized from the accused.

The case has been registered under Sections 318(2), 319(2), 204, 223, 351(2), 112(2), 238 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 43(a), 66 and 66C of the Information Technology Act.

Officials said the matter came to light after the Crime Branch received information about a man living within the limits of the Oshiwara police station who advertised on Instagram that he could recover stolen or lost phones. People who responded to the advertisements contacted the mobile number listed in his posts.

The man allegedly presented himself as “Inspector Sanjay” even though he held no government post, and collected money from people by promising to recover their phones using telecom data allegedly obtained illegally through his contacts.

Crime Branch officers took him into custody on June 22 near the entrance of Ayesha Tower, opposite an HP petrol pump on S.V. Road in Jogeshwari West. The police said an examination of two mobile phones recovered from him indicated that he was allegedly obtaining subscriber details, location information and call records from the other accused.

Investigators then traced the alleged suppliers, including the two constables. The police said the accused had supplied 50 CDRs, more than 520 SDRs, location information for over 550 mobile numbers and details concerning more than 420 International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers.

Telecom data such as CDRs, SDRs, location records and IMEI numbers is protected information, and access to it is ordinarily restricted to authorised agencies through lawful procedures. Investigators are examining how the data was obtained, how it moved between the accused and who else may have accessed it.

The arrests of serving constables from two other states raise questions about how far the alleged network extended and whether insider access to telecom systems was misused. The police have not announced the roles attributed to each of the nine identified accused, and the investigation is continuing.

All those arrested are accused in the case and are entitled to the presumption of innocence until the allegations are established through the legal process. The police have not disclosed the names of the accused in their public statements so far.

The case also highlights a recurring problem for members of the public: fraudsters who use the trappings of official authority — in this instance, a claimed police rank and a social media advertisement — to win trust and collect money. The police have advised people to verify the identity of anyone claiming to be an officer and to approach the nearest police station or the official helpline rather than respond to such advertisements.