Bhubaneswar: Responding to the request made by the Odisha Police, a team of officials from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrived in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday to probe into the SIM box racket unearthed by the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Commissionerate Police last week.
Officials of NIA are likely to interrogate the key accused, Raju Mandal, who is returning to Bhubaneswar from Ranchi along with the special squad of Commissionerate Police.
The Commissionerate police had sought the assistance of the NIA to investigate the racket as a preliminary probe suggests that it is being operated by a Bangladeshi national Asadur Jaman.
The central investigating agency will ascertain whether Asadur is the mastermind of the racket or a handler who facilitated logistics, funds and technical support for Mandal.
The 5-day police remand of Mandal will end on Thursday and the Commissionerate Police plans to move the court for an extension.
So far, the police have raided three places in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Ranchi, and recovered 17 SIM boxes and around 1,000 SIM cards.
