India's Lucknow Police Seizes Quectel SIM Farm Used in Law Enforcement Impersonation Scam
Lucknow Police have seized six illegal 32-port SIM boxes with 192 SIM slots, along with VPN gateways and smart switches, in raids at four locations under Operation Digital Kavach. Police say such boxes route internet calls through Indian SIMs so they look like local calls, helping digital arrest fraudsters pose as police or CBI officers and hide where the calls really come from.
Lucknow Police have seized six illegal 32-port SIM boxes allegedly used to route calls in "digital arrest" and other cyber frauds, after raids at four locations in the city on 31 October 2026. The action was taken under the Crime Branch's Operation Digital Kavach, according to Police Commissionerate Lucknow press note No. 1973, dated 1 November 2026.
How the Network Was Traced
Police analysed the call detail records (CDR) and other technical data of a suspicious mobile number. Information from telecom and internet service providers then helped identify suspicious locations linked to that number.
Joint teams of the Cyber Crime Police Station and the Cyber Crime Cell searched four locations:
- Swati Apartment, Sushant Golf City police station area
- Ashirwad Building, Adarsh Vihar, Para police station area
- Gold Line Apartment, BBD police station area
- GJ Paradise, Adarsh Nagar, Chinhat police station area
What Was Seized
No. | Item | Quantity |
|---|---|---|
1 | Illegal 32-port SIM box | 6 |
2 | VPN gateway | 3 |
3 | Smart switch | 21 |
4 | Smart hub | 3 |
5 | Inverter/UPS | 4 |
6 | Batteries | 18 |
7 | Wi-Fi/network routers, cameras and other electronic devices | Various |
8 | Locked tablet | 1 |
9 | SIM slots | 192 |
The SIM boxes are built on Quectel cellular modules. The six 32-port units together provide 192 SIM slots.
All devices are undergoing detailed technical examination to establish their actual use, the SIM cards linked to them, calling patterns and the people connected to the network. A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station, Lucknow, and the investigation is continuing. The press note does not mention any arrests.
How SIM Boxes Feed Digital Arrest Scams
"The six illegal 32-port SIM boxes recovered are devices in which many SIM and e-SIM cards can be inserted at once. They can be misused to route internet-based calls through various mobile SIMs, making them appear as normal Indian mobile or WhatsApp calls," said Kiran Yadav, IPS, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) and Nodal Officer, Cyber Crime, Police Commissionerate Lucknow.
"In cybercrimes such as digital arrest, criminals pose as officers of the police, CBI or other government agencies to frighten victims and keep up the pressure through repeated calls. Such illegal calling setups can be used to make calls in large numbers and to hide the real source of the calls. Lucknow Police remains alert and committed against cybercrime," she said.
The Team
The operation was carried out under the direction of Police Commissioner Tarun Gaba, with guidance from Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime and Headquarters) Aparna Kumar and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Anil Yadav. It was supervised by Additional DCP (Crime) Kiran Yadav and led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shahida Nasreen.
Cyber Crime Cell, Commissionerate Lucknow:
- Inspector-in-charge Amar Singh
- Sub-Inspector Sumit Chaudhary
- Sub-Inspector Sumit Bhadoriya
- Head Constable Devkinandan
- Head Constable Shivveer Singh
- Head Constable Dhirendra Singh
- Head Constable Shamshad Ali
- Head Constable Gaurav Shukla
- Head Constable Alok Singh
- Constable Mohd Aamir Khan
- Constable Pankaj Shyoran
Cyber Crime Police Station, Commissionerate Lucknow:
- Inspector-in-charge Shamim Ali Siddiqui
- Inspector Ranbir Singh Yadav
- Sub-Inspector Satish Gupta
- Sub-Inspector Shubham Tyagi
- Head Constable Arun Kumar Pal
- Constable Naveen Rai
- Constable Rahul Pandey
- Constable Sachin Tomar
Also on the team were Sub-Inspector Vinay Patel of Para police station and Sub-Inspector Sonu Rajput of BBD police station.
Advisory
Lucknow Police said there is no legal provision called "digital arrest". Anyone who receives a call from a person posing as an officer of the CBI, ED, ATS or police and demanding money for an investigation should immediately report it on the cybercrime helpline 1930, at cybercrime.gov.in, or at the cyber help desk of the local police station or the Cyber Crime Cell. Police also urged property owners to complete police verification of tenants before renting out premises.
Source: Police Commissionerate Lucknow, press note No. 1973, 1 November 2026.