Police probe Assam SIM mystery in Bengaluru con job

Conmen cheated a landowner of Rs 1.6 lakh by posing as officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

While such con jobs aren't uncommon, what has stumped the police is the fact that the fraudsters used Assam-registered SIMs to make phone calls. They bought the SIMs from Hosur, and police believe the Tamil Nadu city is becoming a thriving hub for selling SIMs from outside the state for such illegal activities.

Y Srinivasa Reddy, 68, is a trustee of Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Niketan, Bagepalli, and also owns real estate on the Bengaluru-Hyderabad national highway (number 44).

In 2007, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) acquired 10 guntas of his land for the highway project. While he received monetary compensation, he filed an appeal with the NHAI seeking a better deal.

On August 23, Srinivasa received a phone call from an unknown number (9387052895). The caller introduced himself as Harish Reddy from the NHAI land acquisition office. He told Srinivasa he was eligible for another Rs 28 lakh as compensation for the land acquisition. The caller asked him to give the property documents and Rs 1.5 lakh to one Vijayakantha Reddy.

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Srinivasa called up Vijayakantha, who claimed to be a revenue inspector in the NHAI office and asked to meet him near the Chikkaballapura deputy commissioner's office. Vijayakantha later asked him to hand over Rs 1.6 lakh to Harish. After taking the money, Harish promised Srinivasa he would soon get the enhanced compensation of Rs 28 lakh and walked away. He then switched off his phone. Vijayakantha's number was also switched off.

Realising that he had been conned, Srinivasa filed a complaint at the Chikkaballapur CEN Crime police station.

Tracing the conmen wasn't easy for the police. With both phone numbers switched off, they were left to rely on grainy CCTV footage of the Chikkaballapura DC office. But the painstaking efforts that lasted over a month paid off when they managed to trace the main suspect from Attibele around 8 am on October 3.

It was Syed Mubarak, 34, a resident of Anekal, who posed as Harish to con Srinivasa. Police recovered Rs 1.2 lakh from him. Mubarak is a tout at the DC office.

The person who posed as Vijayakantha is Akram Pasha, also from Anekal. Police are yet to arrest him.

The duo used Assam-registered SIMs they had bought from a street vendor in Hosur, said Chikkaballapur Superintendent of Police Nagesh D L. While police believe SIMs activated in Assam are being sold in Hosur for use in criminal activities, Nagesh said they were yet to identify or trace the street vendor. "He didn't do business there regularly. Nobody seems to know much about him," Nagesh told DH.

According to Nagesh, the conmen contacted Srinivasa as he had listed his phone numbers on a board. Srinivasa denied this.

'Info leaked from DC office'

Speaking to DH, Srinivasa suspected that his personal information was leaked from the DC office. "I haven't put up any signboard with my phone number on it. The NHAI acquired my property back in 2007 and is in possession of it. So I didn't have to give my number," he said.

Srinivasa added that he was given only two-and-a-half hours to pay the money. "I just walked into a trap. I didn't suspect anything," he said. He praised the police for their meticulous efforts in tracing the conmen with very few clues.