Illegal phone exchange busted, 1 held

CHENNAI: Chennai police have busted an illegal telephone exchange by arresting a man from Malappuram in Kerala for cheating and incurring loss to the BSNL department by modifying the international calls into local calls using a technology. The arrested was identified as Naufal, 35.

Acting on a complaint from BSNL, police arrested Naufal and are looking for two more suspects involved in the racket.

BSNL officials became suspicious after they found as many as 72 landline connections had received more than 10,000 to 15,000 calls in the past fortnight. BSNL and police conducted a surprise check at a house in Kanathur on East Coast Road (ECR) and busted an illegal setup on Thursday. The cops discovered that the gadget was installed in the kitchen of the house in Kanathur.

Police noted that Naufal had created a network of 224 customers with an exclusive mobile number, procured using a fake Aadhaar card and other proof of address.

Detailing the modus operandi, police said people living abroad who possess an exclusive gadget in their resident country make the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls to Chennai, which will reach the ‘fake telephone exchange’ in Kanathur. The calls will be later diverted through the router. As per the prewritten software programme, the designated SIM mobile number will be activated, and the call will be connected to the respective consumer.