Illegal telephone exchange used for spying busted in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: An illegal telephone exchange that allegedly converted foreign calls into local ones to aid spying activities in the country has been busted by the military intelligence and Bengaluru Police, officials said on Tuesday.

A 41-year-old man hailing from Kerala’s Wayanad district, identified as Sharafudeen, has been detained during the joint operation by the two agencies.

The man is alleged to have placed several mobile SIM cards into electronic devices at four locations in Bagalgunte main road area in the Karnataka capital.

Officials said, the illegal activity “defrauded” the telecom department and posed a threat to the security of the country.

The agencies got a whiff after they found that some Pakistan-based operatives were using the exchange to source information from some Indian defence installations.

“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the man, who has been detained, used 58 electronic devices to install 2,144 SIM cards at locations in Bhuvaneswari Nagar, Chikkasandra and Siddheshwar layout.”

“The accused unauthorisedly converted international (ISD) phone calls into local calls,” a senior official said.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru Police has registered a case to probe further, he said.

The operation was jointly conducted by CCB unit officials and those from the Military Intelligence, southern command in Bengaluru.