B’luru illegal telephone exchange case: Main accused reveals Pak customers used exchange for calls

Bengaluru: The kingpin in running the illegal telephone exchange here, Ibrahim Pullatti, that was busted a few days ago has revealed that he also ran such an operation in Pakistan and had hundreds of customers there.

The existence of the exchange was revealed after a phone call was made through it to a military station in eastern India.

According to sources, investigation agencies have found that Pullatti had over 600 Pakistani customers, who used to call their relatives and friends in India. These customers made monthly payments to his associates in Pakistan and he would receive the money through hawala.

Pullatti had been running the exchange for almost a year and a half and kept no records of his customers. More information about them is to be collected from the SIM boxes and 960 SIM cards seized from him, sources said.

He also ran a hawala network from the money he earned from the exchange.

Most of the SIM cards with Pullatti were bought from his hometown Malappuram, Kerala, and also from neighboring Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

It was also reported that one or a few of Ibrahim’s hundreds of customers were from the Pakistani intelligence who had made the call to the Indian military station.

However, there is no clear indication behind the intention of the call. It is being assumed that Pakistan deliberately exposed the illegal telephone exchange to increase anti-Muslim sentiments in India.