Telangana Police Launch Nationwide Crackdown on ‘Ghost SIM’ Cyber Fraud Network
Hyderabad, May 20 (TNT): The Hyderabad City Police and Cyber Crime Police Station have launched “Operation Octopus 3.0”, a nationwide crackdown targeting the “Ghost SIM” network allegedly enabling organised cyber fraud operations across the country.
The operation resulted in the apprehension of 66 persons across 13 states through 18 specialised teams during a seven-day coordinated drive, Hyderabad City Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar said in a release issued on Wednesday.
According to the police, the accused are collectively linked to 76 cybercrime cases involving fraud amounting to over Rs 101.87 crore.
The Commissioner said the operation focused on “Ghost SIMs” — mobile connections fraudulently activated in the names of unsuspecting or exploited individuals and allegedly used by cybercriminals to conceal their identities.
Investigators identified 1,194 Ghost SIMs linked to cases registered with the Cyber Crime Police Station, Hyderabad. Of these, 544 SIM cards were seized within Hyderabad city alone, including 432 sealed SIMs allegedly awaiting deployment for cybercrime activities.
The crackdown covered Telangana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Punjab.
According to Sajjanar, those apprehended include 44 Ghost SIM holders, 20 PoS agents or telecom promoters and two Ghost SIM suppliers. Telecom network-wise apprehensions included Airtel-linked agents (7), Jio-linked agents (3) and Vodafone Idea-linked agents (10).
Police identified several methods allegedly used in the frauds, including activation of additional SIM cards during Mobile Number Portability (MNP) eKYC verification without customers’ knowledge, diversion of SIMs activated in the names of digitally illiterate individuals, inducement of customers to surrender SIM cards for commissions, and misuse of OTPs to create fake social media, WhatsApp, matrimonial and dating profiles.
The Hyderabad Police said Operation Octopus forms part of a broader initiative to address systemic vulnerabilities linked to cybercrime. Over the past six months, the department has held discussions with banks, financial regulators and other agencies regarding mule accounts, KYC procedures and fraud prevention mechanisms.
As part of the next phase, Hyderabad Police announced plans to hold structured meetings with major Telecom Service Providers, including Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea, to strengthen oversight of PoS agents, improve real-time verification during SIM activation, accelerate deactivation of suspicious SIMs and implement technology-driven anomaly detection systems.
The operation was conducted under the supervision of DCP Cybercrimes V. Aravind Babu and ACP Cybercrimes Siva Maruthi with teams from the Cyber Crime Police Station, Hyderabad.
Police advised citizens not to share Aadhaar details, biometrics or OTPs with unauthorised SIM vendors and urged the public to verify SIMs linked to their Aadhaar through the Sanchar Sathi portal. Victims of cyber fraud were asked to immediately contact the National Cyber Crime Helpline 1930 or register complaints through cybercrime.gov.in.
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