Sixty-six persons were apprehended by the Cyber Crime Police Station of Hyderabad City Police as part of ‘Operation Octopus 3.0’, a nationwide crackdown targeting ‘Ghost SIM’ networks allegedly enabling organised cyber fraud across India.

According to Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar, the operation was launched following the earlier phases of Operation Octopus that targeted mule account holders and bank officials allegedly facilitating cyber fraud. The latest phase focused on dismantling networks involved in supplying fraudulent SIM cards used by cyber criminals to conceal their identities.

The Commissioner said that 194 Ghost SIMs linked to cybercrime cases registered with the Cyber Crime Police Station were identified during the investigation. Eighteen teams were deployed across 13 States during a seven-day operation.

The operation covered Telangana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Punjab.

“544 SIM cards were seized within Hyderabad city limits by the Cyber Crime Police Station special task force. Of these, 432 were sealed SIM cards allegedly awaiting deployment for cybercrime activities. Among the 66 persons apprehended were 44 alleged Ghost SIM holders, 20 point-of-sale agents or telecom promoters and two alleged suppliers,” said the officer.

He added that the accused were collectively linked to 76 cybercrime cases across India involving alleged fraud amounting to ₹101.87 crore.

During the investigation, police found that certain point-of-sale agents allegedly activated additional SIM cards during mobile number portability eKYC verification without customers’ knowledge and converted them into eSIMs for dispatch abroad.

Investigators also found that some agents allegedly offered free SIM activation to digitally illiterate individuals and diverted the SIM cards to distributors on commission for use in overseas cyber fraud operations.

Police further alleged that customers were induced with money to surrender SIM cards that were later supplied to fraud networks, while in some cases OTPs were obtained from customers to create fake profiles on WhatsApp, social media, dating and matrimonial platforms.

The investigation also revealed that bulk SIM distribution camps were allegedly organised in villages under the guise of free SIM distribution, targeting illiterate individuals and exploiting their Aadhaar identities.

Hyderabad police said the operation forms part of a larger initiative to address systemic gaps enabling cybercrime. Over the past six months, officials have held meetings with banks and regulatory authorities regarding mule accounts, KYC verification and fraud prevention measures.

Police said structured meetings would soon be held with telecom service providers to strengthen oversight of point-of-sale agents, improve verification protocols and establish stronger mechanisms to curb misuse of SIM cards.

The operation was conducted under the supervision of DCP Cybercrimes V. Aravind Babu and ACP Cybercrimes Siva Maruthi along with teams from the Cyber Crime Police Station, detective inspectors and Armed Reserve personnel.