MP police bust major IMEI racket, seize 125 mobile phones

One person was arrested and 125 mobile phones, bearing the same International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, were seized by Madhya Pradesh police's zonal cyber cell in Jabalpur, an official said on Friday.

The IMEI is a unique number that identifies a phone and is one of the primary factors in law enforcement agencies' fight against mobile thefts. The accused allegedly replaced original IMEI numbers of mobile phones with that of the phone kept for demonstration at a store in Jayanti Shopping Complex here, Inspector General Jabalpur zone Vivek Sharma said.

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Pradeep Thakur (29) was arrested on Thursday, after which the police raided the shop where IMEI numbers were changed and handsets were sold, the IG said. The zonal cyber cell got information about mobile phones carrying same IMEI numbers, Sharma said, and claimed over one lakh mobile phones carrying the same IMEI number are operational in the country.

All these mobile phones are manufactured by a particular company, he said. The cyber cell has prepared a list of over 50,000mobile numbers that carry the same IMEI number, and it has been forwarded to the police headquarters for further action, he said.

As many as 125 mobile phones were confiscated after contacting individuals who were using them, he said, adding that most of these phone were bought second hand. Action will be taken under provisions of Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number Rules 2017. 

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