Mumbai Police's Crime Branch Unit-12 has dismantled a racket illegally selling call detail records (CDRs), subscriber detail records (SDRs), mobile location data, and IMEI information, arresting nine accused — including two serving police constables from Jharkhand and Bihar. The bust, centred in Mumbai, exposed a sophisticated fraud operation that exploited grieving phone-loss victims under the guise of official police assistance.

How the Racket Operated

According to police, the primary accused — a resident within the jurisdiction of Oshiwara police station — posed as a police inspector on Instagram under the alias 'Inspector Sanjay', despite holding no official law enforcement position. Through his social media posts, he claimed he could recover stolen or lost mobile phones and return them to their owners, drawing in victims desperate to retrieve their devices.

When people contacted him using the number listed in his posts, the accused allegedly extorted money from them in the name of phone recovery while simultaneously obtaining their CDRs, SDRs, and real-time location details through illegal channels — amounting to a dual fraud of impersonation and data theft.

Arrest and Key Evidence

Crime Branch Unit-12 acted on intelligence and apprehended the prime accused on 22 June, near the entrance gate of Ayesha Tower, opposite an HP petrol pump on SV Road in Jogeshwari West. Two mobile phones recovered from him, on examination, confirmed he had been illegally accessing sensitive telecom data linked to multiple mobile numbers.

The investigation revealed that the accused had allegedly obtained 50 CDRs, 520 SDRs, location data tied to 550 mobile numbers, and details of 420 IMEI numbers — all through unlawful means, according to police.

Charges Filed

A case was registered at Oshiwara police station under Sections 318(2), 319(2), 204, 223, 351(2), 112(2), 238, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 43(a), 66, and 66A of the Information Technology Act. The case is registered as CrPC No. 68/2026 and Oshiwara PS Case No. 935/2026.

The Insiders: Two Active Cops Among the Arrested

Particularly alarming is the involvement of two serving constables — one each from the Jharkhand Police and Bihar Police — among the nine arrested. Their alleged participation suggests the racket may have leveraged insider access within law enforcement systems to source the sensitive telecom data, raising serious questions about data security protocols across police departments. This is not an isolated concern; the illegal trade in CDRs and SDRs has been flagged repeatedly by cybercrime agencies across India.

What This Means for Citizens

The case underscores the vulnerability of personal telecom records to misuse when internal controls are weak. Victims of phone theft — already distressed — were doubly exploited: first financially through extortion, then through the unauthorised exposure of their call and location histories. Cybersecurity experts have long warned that CDR and location data, in the wrong hands, can enable stalking, corporate espionage, and targeted crime. This bust is likely to accelerate scrutiny of how telecom data is accessed and shared within government systems.