Mumbai police’s Crime Branch has arrested five alleged suppliers of illegally obtained telecom data, including two police constables serving in Jharkhand and Bihar, as part of an investigation into a man who posed as a police inspector and offered to recover lost or stolen mobile phones.
The case has been registered under Sections 318(2), 319(2), 204, 223, 351(2), 112(2), 238 and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 43(a), 66 and 66C of the Information Technology Act.
Police said investigators identified nine accused in the network supplying call detail records (CDRs), subscriber detail records (SDRs) and mobile phone location information. Five of them were arrested across Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Bihar.
The investigation began after officers received information about a man residing within Oshiwara police station limits who advertised on Instagram that he could recover stolen or lost phones. People responding to the advertisements contacted the mobile number listed in his posts.
The man allegedly presented himself as “Inspector Sanjay”, despite holding no government post, and collected money from people to recover their phones using telecom data obtained illegally through his contacts.
Crime Branch officers took him into custody on June 22 near the entrance of Ayesha Tower, opposite an HP petrol pump on S.V. Road in Jogeshwari West. Police said an examination of two mobile phones recovered from him indicated that he was allegedly obtaining subscriber details, location information and call records from other accused.
Investigators subsequently traced the alleged suppliers, including the two police constables. Police said the accused had supplied 50 CDRs, more than 520 SDRs, location information for over 550 mobile numbers and information concerning more than 420 International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers.
Seven mobile phones have been seized from the accused.
Published – October 10, 2026 02:10 am IST
