Assam Police Bust Major SIM Card Racket with Links to Pakistani Cybercriminals; Seven Arrested in ‘Operation Ghost SIM’
In a significant breakthrough in the fight against cybercrime, the Assam Police on Saturday announced the successful dismantling of a sophisticated inter-state racket that facilitated the illegal issuance of mobile phone connections to cybercriminals, including operatives based in Pakistan.
This extensive operation, codenamed ‘Operation Ghost SIM’, led to the arrest of seven individuals and the seizure of hundreds of SIM cards and electronic devices used for fraudulent activities.
At a press briefing held in Guwahati, Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Harmeet Singh revealed that the operation was initiated based on a tip-off provided by India’s military intelligence.
The initial lead indicated the existence of a racket operating across multiple states, including Assam, Rajasthan, and Telangana, and allegedly enabling cybercriminals to obtain Indian mobile numbers, which were then used to open WhatsApp accounts for scamming unsuspecting victims.
Multi-State Network With International Ties
“This was not just a local operation; this racket had national and international ramifications,” DGP Singh stated. “The inputs received were turned into actionable intelligence by our Special Branch and the Special Task Force (STF), which swiftly coordinated to track and dismantle the network.”
Based on the intelligence inputs, police teams carried out simultaneous raids beginning Friday afternoon.
These raids took place in two districts of Assam, one district in Telangana, and two districts of Rajasthan, resulting in the arrest of seven suspects directly involved in facilitating the illegal SIM card issuance process.
According to the DGP, this network helped cybercriminals, not only in India but also across the border in Pakistan, to activate Indian WhatsApp accounts using illegally procured SIM cards.
These numbers were then used to impersonate Indian identities, making it far more difficult for victims to suspect any wrongdoing.
“Calls that people received appeared to be from Indian mobile numbers. In reality, these calls were being made from Pakistan. This gave the fraudsters an edge in creating trust and deceiving people more effectively,” Singh explained.
Modus Operandi: Fraudulent SIM Issuance and Exploitation
The racket reportedly exploited loopholes in the verification process to issue new SIM cards using forged documents or by coercing individuals to provide their credentials.
Many of the individuals in whose names the SIM cards were issued were either unaware of how their identities were being misused or were willing participants incentivized through money.
A total of 948 SIM cards were recovered during the raids, along with numerous smartphones, SIM box devices, dongles, and laptops, all of which are believed to have been used to facilitate the creation and operation of fraudulent WhatsApp accounts.
Widening Investigation and Further Questioning
Authorities also revealed that 15 additional individuals are currently being interrogated, including several whose names were used to obtain the SIM cards. Their exact role — whether as victims, accomplices, or facilitators — is still being ascertained.
DGP Harmeet Singh emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and that more arrests may follow. “We are digging deeper into the financial and digital trails.
There is a strong possibility that the same network may have been involved in other cyber frauds across the country,” he said.
Implications and National Security Concerns
The police have stated that this racket posed a serious threat to national security, especially because the WhatsApp accounts created using these SIMs were in the hands of foreign actors, who could have used them for a range of activities, from financial scams to potential espionage and misinformation campaigns.
The Assam Police, in collaboration with other state police forces and central intelligence agencies, are now working to uncover the full scale of this operation.
Efforts are also underway to tighten the verification procedures for issuing SIM cards to prevent such misuse in the future.
A Wake-Up Call for Cyber Vigilance
The bust has triggered renewed discussions on the need for stricter digital identity verification and more robust monitoring of mobile number registrations, especially in light of growing cases of cyber frauds that involve cross-border actors.
“This is a stark reminder of how mobile connectivity and encrypted communication platforms like WhatsApp can be misused if regulatory mechanisms are not enforced diligently,” Singh added.
The Assam Police have urged citizens to remain alert, not share their identification documents without verification, and report any suspicious activity involving mobile numbers or digital transactions to authorities.
