P.P. Shabeer, the prime accused in the Kozhikode parallel telephone exchange case, will be taken to Bengaluru where he had reportedly colluded with inter-State rackets to facilitate the expansion of the discreet communication network for criminal activities.
Shabeer, who was remanded in police custody till August 31, is likely to be grilled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and a State-level special squad led by senior police officers. The squad will dig up details of suspicious financial transactions he had carried out with the support of his close aides.
The District Crime Branch (CB) squad has already gathered details of a few of his suspicious benami assets, including a resort in Wayanad and a hotel in Bengaluru, to probe the source of his income. Recovery of a laptop that he had reportedly used for some confidential transactions is also part of the special squad’s task.
As of now, there are six cases against him under two police stations, while his three close aides are still at large. According to the police, Shabeer was found to have maintained a well-established relationship in India and abroad with persons who had previously been arrested in connection with various parallel exchange cases. Ibrahim Pullatt, a Malappuram native, who was nabbed from Bengaluru earlier, was also in touch with him for suspicious reasons, they said.
Police sources said the statements of Shabeer, who was arrested and remanded in judicial custody in connection with the case last week, would be crucial to locate the other three absconding persons. He would be taken to suspected locations in Kerala and Karnataka where he received support from anonymous persons to live undercover.
It was on July 2, 2021 that the parallel telephone exchanges operated in different parts of the city were exposed by a 23-member police team. The exchanges were found functioning from eight rented facilities where the police had seized over 700 SIM cards and imported call routers from China.
Subsequent to flash raids at these locations, the police had arrested one P. Jurise, 26, who had allegedly helped Shabeer’s gang manage the centres. Based on his statement, the SIT formed by the CB zeroed in on other suspects. The discreet communication network was found exploited by Pakistan-based agencies and smugglers.
