Bhubaneswar: A major cyber fraud racket operating from Bhubaneswar has been busted with the seizure of 10 SIM boxes and more than 100 illegal SIM cards. Two BTech dropouts from Kerala have been arrested in connection with the case.

The Special Squad and the Cyber Police Station conducted a raid at a boys' hostel in the Chandrasekharpur area and unearthed the illegal setup. The accused were allegedly using SIM box technology to bypass international call routes and facilitate fraudulent communication.

According to reports, the accused were routing international calls illegally, enabling connections from the United States, Europe and other foreign countries while operating from Odisha. By bypassing authorised telecom gateways through illegal network jumping, they were allegedly siphoning off money.

Police seized 10 SIM boxes, over a hundred SIM cards, laptops used as servers and WiFi routers from the rented accommodation. The SIM cards were registered in Assam and used illegally.

The accused, who had reportedly dropped out of BTech courses midway, were actively engaged in the unlawful operation. They were reportedly using VOS 3000 software, believed to have originated from Bangladesh. The hardware used in the operation was sourced from China.

Investigators are now probing the larger network and possible interstate and international links of the racket. Further investigation is underway to identify other persons involved and trace the financial trail.