CBI Arrests Telecom Distributor in Bihar Over 700 SIM Cards Linked to 73 Cyber Fraud Cases

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested an area distributor of a major telecom service provider in Bihar’s Vaishali district for allegedly issuing hundreds of SIM cards fraudulently, which were subsequently deployed in an illegal SIM box network linked to nationwide cybercrimes. The arrested suspect has been identified as Pankaj Kumar (36), a resident of Mirzanagar under the Mahua police station jurisdiction. The arrest followed extensive searches conducted by federal investigators across ten locations in Vaishali district of Bihar and Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. During the operation, officers seized laptops, mobile phones, active SIM cards, and incriminating digital evidence. Investigators revealed that the network originated from an illegal SIM box operation uncovered in Supaul district of Bihar, where over 1,300 SIM cards were seized. Detailed analysis of the recovered numbers established connections to at least 73 cybercrime complaints registered across India, including high-profile "digital arrest" extortion schemes. The CBI found that Kumar misused credentials from over a dozen point-of-sale agents to issue more than 700 SIM cards without genuine subscriber consent, violating the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.