Bhadrak: Police have registered a criminal case against a Point of Sale (POS) agent in Bhadrak district for allegedly issuing SIM cards using fabricated customer details, some of which were later linked to cyber fraud complaints registered with the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
The accused has been identified as Soumya Ranjan De of Bhitaradigapatana (Bhuban) under Tiadi police station limits.
According to police, nine mobile connections were issued through the POS code of De. During verification of the corresponding customer application forms, investigators detected discrepancies in the subscriber details. In several applications, allegedly meaningless entries had been made in the column meant for the customer’s father’s name.
Police subsequently contacted some of the individuals in whose names the SIM cards had been activated. They reportedly told investigators that they had no knowledge of the connections being issued in their names.
A probe into the subsequent use of the nine mobile numbers found that multiple complaints relating to cyber fraud had already been registered against the numbers on the NCRP, police said.
Investigators searched for De at his residence but could not locate him. Police are now probing whether the allegedly fraudulent issuance of the SIM cards was connected to their subsequent use in cyber-related offences.
The case was registered on the written complaint of Bhadrak Cyber Police Station Inspector Manas Ranjan Biswal as Case No. 19/2026 dated October 1, 2026.
Police said the case has been registered under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2) and 61(2), along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act and Section 42(3)(C) of the Telecommunications Act, 2023.
Further investigation is underway.
