OTP-sharing scam: Odisha STF arrests seventh accused from Assam

The Special Task Force of Odisha crime branch on Friday claimed to have arrested one more accused in the one-time password-sharing scam with alleged links to Pakistan Intelligence operatives, it said in a statement.

Earlier, six accused persons were arrested in the same case.

The accused identified as Mohammad Ekbal Hussain was taken under custody from Assam's Nagaon district on September 19, the agency said in a statment issued on Friday.

The accused was produced before a local court in Nagaon on Friday and was brought to Bhubaneswar after getting 5 days transit remand. He will be produced before the Bhubaneswar court today, as per the STF statement.

Ajaya Narayan Pankaj, Inspector General STF Odisha, said that six accused persons were earlier arrested in this case.

"During the investigation, police discovered that Hussain was in touch with an earlier arrested accused Abhijit Deshmukh. He was also in touch with Khurram alias Abdul Hamid suspected to be a Pakistan Intelligence Officer," the statement added.

"He has sold many WhatsApp Account OTP, Telegram Account OTP and Mule / Ghost accounts directly to Hamid," as per the statement.

"After the arrest of the principal accused Pathani Samanta Lenka and his associates, accused Hussain switched off his phone and went underground," the statement added.

During the investigation, it was found that he used at least 37 IMEI Nos (handset) and over 500 SIMs.

"The accused confessed to his crime and stated that he has been selling OTPs of WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram-activated fake SIMs, Mule / Ghost Accounts etc. for two years and was earning between ₹50,000- 60,000 per month," it said.

The accused further disclosed the involvement of other people from his hometown, as per his statement. Police said they are verifying his claims.

The modus Ooerandi was to use mobile phones for a month and then destroy them by throwing them into the river to prevent police from tracking them, it added.