Delhi police find fake phone setup, seize more than 1,800 devices

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Delhi Police found a secret phone assembly setup in a narrow lane in Karol Bagh. Five men were caught, and officers took more than 1,800 phones along with software used to change IMEI numbers.

Police said this is one of the biggest cases of IMEI tampering seen in Central Delhi in recent months.

During questioning, the men said they bought old phones from scrap sellers and new outer parts from China. They joined old motherboards with new bodies to make the phones look fresh. After that, they changed the IMEI numbers with a tool called “WRITEIMEI 0.2.2”.

The group said they had been doing this for two years.

The local police team had been keeping an eye on the area for around 15 days after getting a tip. When they reached the building in Beedanpura, they found all five men working on phones and changing IMEI numbers with a laptop.

Police took 1,826 phones—both keypad and touchscreen—along with a laptop, IMEI software, a scanning tool, many phone bodies, and IMEI sticker sheets.

The men caught are Ashok Kumar (45), said to be the main person, along with Ramnarayan (36), Dharmender Kumar (35), Deepanshu (25), and Deepak (19). They were selling these changed phones in local markets.

An FIR has been filed under BNS sections 318(4) and 112, section 65 of the IT Act, and sections 42(3)(c) and 42(3)(e) of the Telecom Act, 2023.

Police are now checking how the parts were sourced, who supplied the motherboards, how the phones were moved to markets, and who else may be linked. Officers said more action may happen soon.