Hyderabad Police Arrest Two in Alleged Illegal SIM Activation Racket

Overview

• The Central Crime Station special crime team, working with Nampally police, detained the suspects in Hyderabad on Sunday during an alleged attempt to sell illegal SIM cards.
• Officers reported seizing 184 allegedly illegal SIMs—150 Airtel and 34 Jio—plus four phones, though some earlier accounts cited 139 cards pending verification.
• The accused were identified as Nanevath Dinesh Kumar Naik, 22, a Kadapa-based distributor running Lavanya Enterprises, and Parnapally Sai Pradeep, 24, a SIM promoter.
• Investigators say the duo diverted customers during activation and used their KYC details and fingerprints to generate additional connections under single profiles, then sold them at inflated prices.
• The case was handed to Nampally police for further investigation, and authorities urged consumers to complete SIM purchases and KYC updates only at authorised network stores.