A Chinese national apprehended while trying to cross the India-Bangladesh border illegally has told the investigators that he and his associates have smuggled as many as 1,300 Indian SIM cards into their country by hiding them in undergarments, the Border Security Force said on Friday.
Han Junwe, 35, a resident of China's Hubei province, has been handed over by the BSF to the West Bengal police for 'further legal proceedings'.
He was nabbed by a BSF patrol party from the Malda district of the state on Thursday.
'Junwe has been a wanted criminal and upon thorough interrogation, shocking facts have come to the fore that he has so far taken around 1,300 Indian SIMs from India to China using fake documents.
'Junwe, through his associates, used to hide the SIMs in undergarments and send these to China,' the Kolkata-headquartered south Bengal frontier of the BSF said in a statement.
These SIM cards, it alleged, were used to hack accounts and carry out financial frauds.
'Their (Junwe and his associates) purpose was to cheat people using SIMs and to get their money. His apprehension is a big achievement for the BSF,' the force said.
Junwe has told security officials that he was using the India-Bangladesh border to enter the country as he failed to get an Indian visa after his business partner Sun Jiang was arrested by the Lucknow Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in a case of fraud recently.
'Since then, the process of issuance of a Blue Notice (issued by the Interpol) against Junwe was also initiated as per procedure,' the BSF said.
A Blue Notice is generated to collect additional information about a person's identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.
The BSF claimed that a large amount of 'suspicious' electronic devices were recovered from Junwe.
The Chinese national has told the interrogators that he visited India at least four times in the past and has a hotel in Gurgaon, near Delhi.
In a video statement provided by the force on Thursday, Junwe said he entered India by 'mistake' and that he wanted to 'surrender' before the Lucknow ATS.
He also said he visited India in the past in connection with e-commerce business.
