Mumbai Police have arrested a 21-year-old SIM gallery sales executive in connection with an alleged engineering admission fraud, making him the 11th accused held in the case.
Police alleged that the suspect supplied fraudsters with SIM cards activated without customers’ knowledge. The case was registered on July 17. Ten accused connected with the alleged engineering admission racket had earlier been arrested from Viman Nagar and were released on bail on Wednesday.
SIM Executive Accused of Selling Hundreds of Cards
Police identified the latest accused as Abu Saif, 21, a resident of Versova who worked at a SIM gallery in Mumbai’s western suburbs.
According to police, Saif allegedly sold at least 300 SIM cards without documents in 2026. Sub-inspector Ramchandra Pinjarkar has identified 23 SIM cards that were allegedly issued without obtaining the required documents.
Police alleged that some SIM cards were activated without customers’ knowledge and supplied to fraudsters. Saif has applied for bail.
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Police Tracked Money Withdrawals for a Month
DCP (West Zone-3) Datta Nalawade said detection teams tracked the alleged racket for a month. The team included senior inspector AS Sawant, inspector Sushant Bandgar, sub-inspector Prashant Kendre, Sagar Jadhav, Pinjarkar and other staff.
Investigators collected information about money withdrawn from bank ATMs and petrol pumps, along with cash allegedly collected from victims.
The investigation ultimately led police to the SIM gallery employee and the alleged supply of SIM cards used by fraudsters.
Court Orders ₹16.5 Lakh Returned to Victim
Kendre said a court ordered a bank to transfer ₹16.5 lakh to the account of a Powai resident who had been cheated in the case.
The woman was allegedly duped after being given a false promise that her son would be secured admission to an engineering course at IIIT Hyderabad.
The arrest of Saif takes the number of accused held in the engineering admission fraud case to 11.
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