Kerala - Kochi   

Illegal phone exchange detected: two arrested

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, DEC. 14. The Regional Vigilance Telecom Monitoring Cell on Monday detected an illegal telephone exchange handling international calls. The exchange was functioning from a building on the M.G. Road.

Remanded

Two persons were arrested in this connection and they were produced before the Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate on Tuesday. They were remanded to custody.

The arrested were identified as Binil Paul, 28, of Kaloor, and Rajiv Menon, 23. The arrest was made following complaints form the VSNL, BSNL and Reliance officials that the illegal exchange was converting international calls into local calls through the Internet from the café they run on the M.G. Road.

Premises raided

Officials of the Department of Telecommunications raided the premises with the help of the local police and busted the illegal set-up consisting of sophisticated telecom equipment. Though two persons were apprehended from the site, the police are on the lookout for the real culprits.

The modus operandi involved was connecting a landline with a leased Internet line through telecommunication equipment, the police said. The overseas calls are received at the exchange and the billing is done abroad. Such operations are conducted on the sly at several places.

The Department of Telecom urged the people to inform the department on the toll-free telephone numbers 1600-110-420 or 011-2373-1100 regarding any grey international calls.

The police started an investigation into the technical details of the fraud committed.

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