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Jaunpur: Police in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district have busted an inter-district gang accused of buying stolen and used mobile phones, salvaging their functional components, and assembling customized and clone handsets for sale in Delhi. Acting on intelligence, personnel from the Baksa police station raided a rented house and arrested seven members of the syndicate. During the operation, officers seized 939 mobile phones of various brands, 272 SIM cards, and 40 sacks filled with mobile scrap parts. Police also confiscated Rs 24,000 in cash, a Tata Tiago car, and a motorcycle without a registration plate. Authorities have registered a First Information Report and initiated legal proceedings while sending the seized devices and SIM cards for technical analysis to examine potential links to cybercrime.
Salvaging Parts to Assemble Clone Handsets
According to Baksa Station House Officer Prashant Kumar Singh, interrogation of the suspects revealed an organized supply chain. The gang procured stolen and discarded mobile phones at low prices across Jaunpur and neighboring districts. Once a substantial stock accumulated, the devices were moved to a rented house in Umapur Shivgulamganj, located within the Baksa police station limits, occupied by accused members Saurabh Gupta and Kamesh Gupta. Inside the premises, gang members dismantled old and damaged phones to extract usable electronic components such as motherboards, display screens, and camera modules. These salvaged components were sorted and reassembled into customized and clone handsets designed to be sold in the market as functional devices. Investigators noted that the gang had divided operational duties among its members, ranging from procurement and hardware dismantling to cross-city distribution.
Inter-District Network Spanning Four Districts
The investigation indicates that the syndicate’s operations extended well beyond Jaunpur, linking operatives across Meerut, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, and Kannauj. Police identified the seven arrested individuals as Saurabh Gupta and Kamesh Gupta, both residents of Umapur Shivgulamganj under Baksa police station in Jaunpur; Sanjay Singh of Godhepur under Gajner police station in Kanpur Dehat; another individual named Sanjay Singh from Aramau in Kanpur Dehat; Ajay Nayak of Partapur under Dibiyapur police station in Auraiya; Akhilesh Nayak of Ramnagar under Thathiya police station in Kannauj; and Hasim Khan, alias Wasim, a resident of Ashiyana Colony in Meerut. Police stated that once the customized phones were assembled in Jaunpur, they were routed through Hasim Khan in Meerut to various buyers and parties in Delhi. Officials are currently working to identify the recipients in the national capital and determine the total volume of modified devices sold so far.
Technical Probe Into IMEI Tampering and Cybercrime
Of the 939 mobile handsets recovered during the raid, 134 are Android smartphones and 805 are keypad feature phones. The sheer volume of the 40 sacks of scrap components suggests the illegal workshop had been operating for a considerable period. Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Atish Kumar Singh stated that a comprehensive technical examination of the seized phones, SIM cards, and spare parts is underway. Investigators are verifying whether the handsets were reported stolen and whether their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers were altered during reassembly. Police have also raised concerns that residual user data, digital identities, and active SIM cards recovered from the old devices may have been misused to commit financial fraud or other cyber offenses. Officers are tracing the registered owners of the 272 SIM cards and probing the wider network of suppliers and buyers connected to the racket.
