Maharashtra: Fake SIM card racket busted in Thane district; two held

THANE: Two persons have been arrested and a minor detained in connection with a racket involved in generating fake SIM cards in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Saturday.
A huge stock of activated black SIM cards and fabricated identity cards were seized from the accused, said Yogesh Chavan, deputy commissioner of police Zone-II Bhiwandi.
Based on a tip-off, a team from the Bhoiwada police station raided a locality in Nagaon of Bhiwandi and nabbed the accused selling SIM cards to customers on Thursday, he said.
The police have arrested Mohammad Irfan Islam Ansari (23) and Saeed Sagar Abdul Gafar Shaikh (24), while a minor has also been detained in the case, he said.
The police have recovered 111 fake SIM cards, different Aadhaar cards having the photo of one and the same person, a printer, KYC machine, three mobile phones and 250 SIM cards of various service providers, the official said.
The seized goods were valued at Rs 2.23 lakh, he said.
An offence under section 420 (cheating) and other relevant provisions of the IPC has been registered, the official said, adding that further probe is underway to trace people who have been sold the SIM cards.