Chhatrapur: The Aryapalli Maritime Police on Thursday arrested two persons for allegedly selling Indian mobile SIM cards to foreign nationals arriving by ship at Gopalpur port in Ganjam district. The accused, identified as G. Shamba of Katuru village and A. Kamyo, a mobile phone shop owner from the same village, were taken into custody during a raid conducted based on specific information.
Police seized 70 SIM cards of various companies and $22 from the duo.
According to officials, G. Shamba, who works as a foreman at Gopalpur port, was arrested first, with 34 pre-activated SIMs and $22 recovered from him. Following his interrogation, police raided the shop of A. Kamyo and seized an additional 36 SIM cards.
Initial investigations revealed that Shamba purchased SIM cards from Kamyo at a low cost and sold them to foreign nationals at inflated prices. The foreigners reportedly used these SIMs for WhatsApp calls and data services before destroying them after use.
Chhatrapur SDPO Chandan Kumar Ghadei stated that the police are investigating how long the duo had been involved in this illegal trade and whether others were part of the racket. The raid was conducted by a team led by Aryapalli Marine Police Station IIC Vidyabharathi Nayak and Chamakhandi Police Station IIC Sabyasachi Malla.
