Mumbai Crime Branch arrested seven people for allegedly selling confidential phone records.
Two constables allegedly obtained telecom records by falsely citing criminal investigations.
Clients allegedly bought data to monitor spouses, employees, rivals and GST officers.
The Mumbai Crime Branch on Saturday arrested seven people including two police constables posted in Jharkhand and Bihar for their alleged involvement in a racket selling confidential mobile phone records.
The accused allegedly sold Call Detail Records (CDRs), Subscriber Details Records (SDRs) and mobile tower location data to clients seeking to monitor spouses, employees and rivals, police said as reported by Hindustan Times.
Investigators seized 50 CDR records, information relating to 520 subscribers, 550 location records or tracking instances, 420 International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) details and seven mobile phones. The gang allegedly charged different rates depending on the request, including ₹5,000 in cases involving suspected infidelity.
Advertisement Led Police To Suspect
Crime Branch Unit XII began investigating after officers spotted a social media advertisement offering to locate lost or stolen mobile phones for a fee.
“We came to know that the person was claiming he was a police officer, identifying himself as inspector Sanjay. He could help the person find his phone as he used to get CDR, SDR and location through which it was easy to find out who was using the phone and where,” said Navnath Dhavale, deputy commissioner of police, Crime Branch.
Posing as customers, a team comprising Sandeep Yede Patil and Balasaheb Raut contacted Hanjala Mubarak Sayyad and arranged a meeting on SV Road in Jogeshwari West. Officers apprehended him when he arrived.
“When his two mobile phones were checked, it was found that a total nine accused were involved in the racket. We traced the others and picked them up from various places in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Bihar,” said Raut as reported by Hindustan Times.
Constables Accused Of Supplying Records
Police registered a case against Pankaj Kumar Mukthar Shukla, a constable with Dhanbad police, and Prince Kumar Pravin Sahani, a constable posted in Bihar’s Vaishali district.
The two allegedly obtained CDRs and SDRs from telecom providers by claiming the phones concerned were linked to criminal cases. While other accused acted as intermediaries, the constables allegedly supplied the confidential records.
The information was then used to locate stolen phones or track individuals’ movements and contacts. Police said clients included people involved in marital disputes who wanted to monitor their partners.
Businessman Allegedly Sought Employees’ And GST Officers’ Records
In one instance, a businessman whose premises had been raided by GST officials allegedly obtained the CDRs of all his employees and the officers involved. He wanted to establish who had alerted authorities, police said.
Access to another person’s CDR or SDR is restricted to authorised procedures for legitimate investigations; private individuals cannot obtain these records directly from telecom providers.
An FIR was registered at Oshiwara police station under Sections 318, 319, 204, 223, 351, 112 and 238 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, covering offences including cheating, impersonation, criminal intimidation, petty organised crime and disappearance of evidence. Relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act were also invoked.
