The suspected international financial transactions worth several crores of rupees between the accused in the Kozhikode parallel telephone exchange case and those who clandestinely supported them from abroad are now on the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the District Crime Branch making headway in the probe.
P.P. Shabeer, the prime suspect in the case who was recently arrested from Wayanad, is reportedly the brain behind the transactions made by those who explored the secret communication network for anti-national activities. Amid his confessions in police custody, Shabeer had revealed the details of multiple bank accounts managed by him, the police said.
“The ED investigation is mainly to verify the source of money he received from different countries in different accounts which was later credited into the accounts of his other agents in India through cash deposit machines,” said a senior police officer who uncovered the suspicious financial transactions during interrogation which were later referred to the ED. The major finding was that the man had been receiving several crores of rupees since 2017 from multiple sources for suspicious businesses linked to the parallel telephone exchange, he said.
Prime evidence
The already seized SIM cards with pre-activated online money transfer accounts come as the major evidence for the ED to proceed with. Communications using pre-activated WhatsApp accounts in those SIM cards obtained in the name of unknown persons also emerge as strong incriminating evidence against the suspects.
“We have several details on the ways in which the suspects secured the illegal SIM cards and used them for discreet communication and money transfers. The details will be handed over to the ED,” said a member of the Special Investigation Team. He said it was suspected that the illegal network was used for facilitating drug trafficking, flesh trade, and smuggling.
Transactions of ₹46 cr.
The statements of the other two arrested, P. Abdul Gafoor and M.G. Krishnaprasad, have also endorsed the findings of the SIT that there were suspicious international financial transactions worth ₹46 crore. District Crime Branch sources said the case details would be conveyed to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as well in the wake of findings that the illegal communication services were used by anti-national elements from countries like China and Pakistan.
500 SIM cards seized
It was on July 1 that a team of police officers raided seven buildings in Kozhikode city and exposed the parallel telephone exchanges. More than 500 SIM cards and imported call routers were seized from the rented facilities unveiling the magnitude of the underground communication network that secretly facilitated the diversion of international internet calls as local calls using imported routers and broadband connections bypassing approved networks.
