Jaipur, June 8 (IANS) The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Jaipur Zonal Office, has conducted search operations at seven locations across Kishangarh (Ajmer), Nagaur, Jodhpur and Ludhiana (Punjab) in connection with a major cyber fraud and money laundering case.

The searches were carried out on June 5 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The case involves Indian mobile numbers that were allegedly obtained through fraudulent means by Point of Sale (POS) vendors and supplied to Malaysian nationals. Investigators allege that these numbers were later operated from Cambodia and used to commit cyber fraud across India.

According to the ED, the investigation originated from an FIR registered by the Cyber Police Station, DCP (Crime), Jodhpur, regarding the misuse of SIM cards by POS vendors.

The probe revealed that thousands of Indian mobile numbers had been activated and subsequently used from Cambodia to carry out cybercrime activities in various states.

An analysis of nearly 2.3 lakh mobile numbers found that around 36,000 SIM cards were active in Cambodia. Of these, approximately 5,300 numbers were allegedly linked to cyber fraud cases involving financial losses amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees.

During the searches, the ED gathered evidence suggesting that Rahul Kumar Jha, Mohammad Sharif and Sandeep Bhatt, allegedly acting in collusion with SIM vendors Ashok Bheel, Ramavatar Rathi, Haresh Malakar and Hemant Panwar, supplied hundreds of SIM cards to Malaysian nationals.

Investigators claimed that the vendors used POS IDs of telecom operators such as Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) to issue and activate SIM cards.

They allegedly exploited unsuspecting individuals by obtaining SIM cards under the pretext of porting existing numbers or issuing new connections.

After activation, the SIM cards were reportedly diverted to Malaysian nationals through Rahul Kumar Jha and his associates in exchange for commissions.

The ED said that incriminating documents and materials were seized during the raids.

Authorities have also identified around 30 bank accounts and traced various movable and immovable properties linked to the accused individuals.

Further investigation into the case is underway.

–IANS

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