7 jailed for supplying SIMs, OTPs to suspected Pakistan spies

Bhubaneswar: A court in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday sentenced seven men to three years in prison for supplying pre-activated SIM cards and one-time passwords (OTPs) to suspected Pakistani spies.The convicts—hailing from Odisha, Maharashtra, and Assam—were arrested by the crime branch’s special task force (STF) between May and June 2023. They were identified as Pathanisamant Lenka, Saroj Kumar Nayak, and Pradyunmna Kumar Sahoo (all from Nayagarh), Soumya Pattanayak and Pritam Kar (Jajpur), Abhijeet Sanjya Jambure (Satara, Maharashtra), and Mohammad Ikbal Hussain (Nagaon, Assam).STF officials revealed that the men procured banned pre-activated SIM cards using forged documents and sold them to anti-national elements.

These SIMs were used to generate OTPs for opening fake bank accounts, conducting online transactions, creating social media handles, and spreading propaganda against the country.“The accused were part of a bigger racket. They shared phone numbers with criminals in India. They also sold the banned SIMs to Pakistani intelligence operatives. When these numbers were used to open accounts, OTPs were sent to the accused, who then passed them on in exchange for money,” an STF official said.

The racket enabled the creation of fake email IDs, social media accounts, and online shopping profiles. From these accounts, hate messages and communally-sensitive content were circulated, giving the impression that they originated from Indian users while being operated from Pakistan.According to the STF, these platforms were exploited for espionage, terrorist communication, radicalization, anti-India propaganda, sextortion, and honey-trapping.

“The accused persons were involved in activities that could destabilize the nation’s internal security,” the STF said in a written statement.Based on the evidence, the sub-divisional judicial magistrate sentenced each convict to rigorous imprisonment for three years and imposed a fine of Rs 32,000.Asked why the men were not charged with sedition or waging war against the country, the STF clarified: “The role of the accused was limited to selling SIMs and OTPs. The investigation is still open. Those whose direct links with anti-national elements are established will face further action.”