Probe into kidnap of bizman busts fake SIM racket, 5 held

While police have arrested a couple of accused in connection with the kidnap of one Diwan Akbar and receiving a ransom of Rs 2 crore, the investigation revealed that SIM cards used by the accused had been obtained in others’ names. Police probed further and arrested R Arjun (31) of New Washermenpet.

“He worked for a network provider’s agency to issue SIM cards. He receives photocopies of government identity cards in xerox shops and activates SIM cards in their names to give it to ‘those in need’,” said an official.

He hands over the SIM cards to a middleman who issued the cards to the kidnappers, said police. Based on his inputs, four other suspects M Kasim Nawaz (31) of Royapuram, A Hasan Mohammed (52) of Mannadi, S Premanathan (31) of Perambur and M Amar Jain (41) of Choolai were nabbed. All five were remanded in judicial custody.