Bhubaneswar, Dec 14: The investigation into the Delhi car blast has uncovered links to Odisha, with authorities finding that SIM cards used by the terrorists were procured from Jajpur and Bhadrak districts, according to reports.
On Saturday, a team from Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh police station carried out raids in Jajpur and the Manjuri Road market area of neighbouring Bhadrak district. During the operation, two mobile phone shop owners were detained for questioning over the alleged illegal sale of SIM cards.
The detained individuals were identified as Santosh Khandei, who operates a mobile phone shop at Manjuri Road market, and his associate Maheshwar Puntia from the Tarago area. Both were brought to Bhadrak and produced before a local court, after which they were taken on remand by the Delhi Police for further interrogation.
Investigators revealed that the accused allegedly activated multiple SIM cards using the Aadhaar documents of customers who visited their shop for new connections. While only one SIM card was issued to the customer, several additional SIM cards were activated without the customer’s knowledge and later sold illegally.
Reports further stated that Santosh Khandei ran his shop under the Bhandaripokhari police limits, where this practice was allegedly carried out repeatedly. The extra SIM cards were sold to unidentified buyers at higher prices.
The accused also allegedly lured unemployed youths from the Korei area of Jajpur, paying them between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 per SIM card. These illegally activated SIM cards were later sold onward at inflated rates.
Police believe that several of these SIM cards were used for criminal activities, including the Delhi car blast case. A case has been registered at the Shaheen Bagh police station, and multiple illegal SIM cards have been seized from Santosh Khandei.
Investigators have also detected large-scale financial transactions in the bank accounts of both accused. The police are now tracking the money trail to identify additional links and ascertain whether more individuals were involved in the racket.
