Powai police arrest a SIM gallery sales executive, identified as Abu Saif, as the 11th accused in an alleged fake engineering admission fraud case. Police say he supplied fraudsters with at least 300 SIM cards that were activated without customers’ knowledge. Officers identify 23 such SIM cards as having been issued without proper documentation and Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.
Police allege Saif misuses details of customers who visited the gallery for SIM replacement or new connections. According to investigators, he takes customers’ photographs while claiming to complete KYC steps and then uses their information to activate additional SIM cards using fake addresses. Authorities say these SIMs are used by fraudsters involved in the admission racket.
Investigators state they track the scheme over about a month by analysing financial activity, including bank ATM transactions, petrol pump transactions, and cash collected from victims. The case is registered on July 17. In related developments, other accused in the engineering admissions case are granted bail and released, and a court orders a bank to transfer ₹16.5 lakh to a Powai resident who was allegedly duped after a promise of securing her son’s admission to IIIT Hyderabad.
