Close on the heels of “Operation Sindoor, conducted by the defence forces of the country against Pakistan-backed Islamic terror groups, the Assam Police have recently carried out a significant crackdown on cybercrime and anti-national activities with the objective of dismantling a major fake SIM card racket with international connections. Codenamed as “Operation Ghost SIM”, the Assam Police initiative has already led to the arrest of seven persons from different locations of the state and recovered a record number of 948 SIM cards from these culprits. As reported prominently in the Sunday edition of this newspaper, the Assam Police operation was conducted on the basis of intelligence input support provided by the Indian Army’s intelligence wing operating in the region. It is significant to note that the racket involved have been using a number of fraudulent SIM cards in order to create WhatsApp accounts, with OTPs sourced from the owners of random phone numbers for activation. These are then routed to Pakistan with the ulterior motive of carrying out anti-India activities. While these WhatsApp accounts generally appear to be domestic, in reality they are being operated from locations outside the country – particularly in Pakistan – and have been used for carrying out cyber fraud and anti-India activities, with the OTPs shared with entities in Pakistan. This appears to be part of a well-drawn plan of Pakistan and definitely poses a grave threat to national security. The news report quoting Assam Police chief Harmeet Singh said that information was received from military intelligence about a racket involving fake SIM cards operating with bases in Assam, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Further analysis on the basis of actionable input carried out by the Special Branch and Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police led to carrying out a simultaneous operation in one district each in Assam and Telangana, which in turn revealed that gangs have been active for quite some time with the long-term goal of destabilising the region through cyber crimes. What is also significant is that in Assam, this gang is most active in Dhubri, a district which not only shares an international boundary with Bangladesh but also has a sizable number of illegal migrants of East Pakistan and Bangladesh roots. It may be recalled that a number of jehadi sleeper cells have been active in Assam in the past several years, and these elements are best suited to be part of the fake SIM card racket.