BASTI: Police have arrested three alleged members of a gang accused of buying old mobile phones from villages and supplying their motherboards for use in cybercrime operations. The case was registered under crime number 008/2026 at the local police station under Sections 317(2), 317(5), 61(2), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66B of the Information Technology Act.
Gang accused of sourcing old phones from villages
Police said information had been coming in for the past several months that a group was moving through villages purchasing old and damaged mobile phones and offering new utensils in exchange. Acting on these inputs and using physical and technical resources, the cyber crime police station in Basti arrested three accused on April 11, 2025, including the alleged gang leader.
During the operation, police recovered a large quantity of devices and components, including 156 Android phones, 180 keypad phones, 285 mobile motherboards, one DC machine, one boot cable, and cash. Investigators believe the seized material was linked to an organised supply chain feeding cybercrime activity.
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Blocked IMEI system said to be central to racket
During questioning, the accused allegedly told police that cyber criminals have faced increasing difficulty because mobile phones used in cyber offences are being blocked through the national cybercrime portal, rendering SIM cards unusable in those devices. Police said the gang exploited this situation by sourcing old phones at low cost and extracting usable motherboards that still carried embedded IMEI numbers.
Investigators said the motherboards were tested with a DC machine and then taken to Kolkata, where they were allegedly sold to shopkeepers. From there, the components were said to be purchased by cyber criminals for about ₹600 per motherboard. Police said these boards were then used to assemble a fresh mobile handset for around ₹1,000, far cheaper than buying a new phone.
The police report said such rebuilt devices were allegedly used in cyber offences including calling operations, UPI transactions, internet banking, and malware testing.
Arrested men identified, investigation continues
The arrested accused were identified as Shyampal, son of Raghuvir, a resident of Khallpur in Faridpur police station area of Bareilly, aged about 26; Mirajul Rahman Sheikh, son of Amarulla, a resident of Sharifnagar, Murshidabad, West Bengal, aged about 28; and Atikur, son of Azmail Sheikh, also a resident of Sharifnagar, Murshidabad, West Bengal, aged about 27.
The arresting team included Inspector Kuldeep Tripathi, in-charge of Cyber Crime Police Station, Basti; Head Constable Angad Maurya of the surveillance cell, Basti; Head Constable Rishived of Cyber Police Station, Basti; Head Constable Pawan Yadav of Cyber Police Station, Basti; and Constables Ishant Yadav and Amit Ojha.
Police have indicated that the case sheds light on a wider supply mechanism through which discarded or damaged phones are being repurposed for illegal digital activity. The investigation is expected to continue into the network involved in collecting, testing and distributing the components.
