In a significant breakthrough against cybercrime, Delhi Police have dismantled an international cybercriminal syndicate that allegedly defrauded Indian citizens of nearly ₹100 crore by placing them under what authorities describe as “digital arrest.” The operation led to the arrest of seven individuals, including a Taiwanese national who served as the technical backbone of the criminal network. The arrests mark a rare victory for Indian law enforcement in a field where transnational operations frequently shift across countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, and parts of West Asia, making containment a continuous challenge.

The syndicate targeted victims across India by impersonating anti-terror officers, issuing fake arrest warrants, and threatening them with legal action linked to high-profile cases, including the Pahalgam attack in Jammu and Kashmir and past Delhi blasts. Victims were informed that their bank accounts would be frozen unless they cooperated, creating immense psychological pressure. They were kept under continuous video or audio surveillance, a tactic dubbed “digital arrest,” during which the victims were coerced into transferring large sums of money to “verify” their innocence.

The investigation, initiated in October 2025 after a noticeable spike in cybercrime complaints across the country, revealed a highly sophisticated operation exploiting low-frequency 2G networks and illegal sim box infrastructure. Sim boxes, which convert international calls into local ones by routing them through Indian SIM cards, allow scammers to bypass telecom security systems. The syndicate also rotated IMEI numbers—unique identifiers for mobile devices—to make a single device appear as multiple phones operating in different Indian cities within a single day. This technique, combined with merging multiple sim boxes, allowed the criminals to maintain the illusion of local origin calls, making their threats appear authentic.

The breakthrough in the investigation came with the identification of I-Tsung Chen, a 30-year-old Taiwanese national, who was found to be the mastermind behind the technical operations. Chen allegedly supplied, installed, and configured sim box devices across multiple Indian cities, maintaining seamless communication lines for the syndicate. He was apprehended at Delhi’s international airport on December 21 while arriving in India, purportedly to troubleshoot one of the systems that police had intercepted. During interrogation, Chen reportedly admitted to smuggling sim box devices into India and coordinating their deployment.

Further inquiries linked Chen to a Taiwan-based organised crime network headed by gangster Shang Min Wu, known for international kidnapping, large-scale fraud, and money laundering. The case underscored the transnational nature of cybercrime, involving multiple countries and complex coordination networks. Cambodian centres were used for recruitment and training of operatives, Chinese nationals supplied and configured hardware, Pakistani handlers allegedly funded and directed operations, and Nepal is suspected to have acted as the operational nerve centre controlling the network remotely.

Following Chen’s arrest, a month-long covert surveillance operation led the police to the first sim box installation at Goyla Dairy in southwest Delhi. This led to the arrests of Shashi Prasad, 53, from Qutub Vihar, and Parvinder Singh, 38, of Deenpur, both of whom allegedly maintained the illegal infrastructure. Simultaneously, raids were conducted across multiple cities including Mohali, Coimbatore, and Mumbai, leading to further arrests and dismantling of sim box hubs.

In Mohali, Sarbdeep Singh, 33, a BTech electronics graduate, and Jaspreet Kaur, 28, were apprehended. Both had previously worked at scam centres in Cambodia and were reportedly recruited by a Pakistani handler who facilitated funding and oversaw sim box installations in India. In Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Dinesh K, a hotel management diploma holder, was arrested on suspicion of coordinating cryptocurrency laundering for the syndicate. Dinesh frequently travelled to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia to manage financial flows. The final accused, Abdus Salam, 33, a civil engineering diploma holder, was arrested in Malad, Mumbai, following the detection and dismantling of another sim box installation.

Forensic analysis conducted in collaboration with the National Cyber Forensic Laboratory and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre revealed the vast scale of the operation. Investigators traced over 5,000 compromised IMEI numbers and approximately 20,000 SIM cards linked to the network. The recovered hardware included 22 sim boxes, eight mobile phones, three laptops, seven CCTV cameras, three passports, Cambodia employment cards, ten Indian SIM cards, and 120 foreign SIM cards issued by China Mobile. Thousands of cybercrime complaints filed across India were linked to this single syndicate, highlighting the network’s extensive reach.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) Vinit Kumar, “This was not just cyber fraud but a serious national security concern. The syndicate’s ability to impersonate law enforcement, intimidate citizens, and manipulate telecommunications infrastructure presented an unprecedented challenge.” He added that further investigation is underway to identify remaining operatives, trace money-laundering and cryptocurrency channels, and dismantle the entire international architecture behind the sim box ecosystem.

The case exemplifies the evolution of cybercrime into a transnational, technologically sophisticated industry. By leveraging low-cost sim cards, outdated network frequencies, and international recruitment, fraudsters have created a scalable and highly mobile criminal network. Authorities say that the syndicate’s operations were designed to exploit gaps in Indian telecom infrastructure, particularly 2G networks, which remain difficult to monitor comprehensively.

The arrests have been welcomed as a major achievement by law enforcement agencies, particularly given the challenges of coordinating across multiple jurisdictions and tracing complex digital and financial flows. The success demonstrates the importance of intelligence-led policing, advanced cyber-forensics capabilities, and international cooperation in tackling modern cyber threats.

This case also serves as a warning to the public regarding the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals who exploit fear and misinformation. By impersonating law enforcement agencies and leveraging the psychological impact of terror-related threats, the syndicate managed to coerce victims into surrendering substantial sums of money. Experts warn that awareness campaigns, secure banking practices, and reporting mechanisms such as the National Cyber Crime Reporting Platform are critical in mitigating similar scams in the future.

The Delhi Police have assured continued vigilance and collaboration with international partners to track down the remaining network and neutralise similar threats in the future. This landmark bust underscores India’s resolve to counter cybercrime that operates across borders, threatening not only financial security but also the broader national security landscape.