Kestopur housewife, 24, is the biggest distributor of phone SIMs involved in cybercrimes in West Bengal.

A 24-year-old housewife residing in a Kestopur side street has become the state’s top — and one of India’s biggest — sellers of SIMs produced through illegal methods. A Kolkata Police detective department team conducted a search last week at the rented home of Deblina Chakraborty, discovering 237 pre-activated SIM cards from different telecom companies, five biometric devices, and eight mobile phones.

Chakraborty, along with her spouse Anirban Saha (28) and close friend Ripan Saha (22), were arrested, and information gained from them directed police to nine additional gang associates throughout the city, resulting in the seizure of approximately 2,200 SIM cards, 15 biometric devices, and 18 mobile phones.

According to police, the SIM cards sold by Chakraborty had been recently employed in at least 211 cybercrimes, including digital arrest, loan fraud, and hacking, with some originating from countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

In Kestopur, Chakraborty’s neighbours said she would often travel to the interiors of Mahisbathan, Baligari or Madhyamgram to sell SIM cards. “She left in the morning and returned late at night,” said Usha Ghosh, owner of the house where she lived a year ago. Chakraborty would also frequently shift from one rented accommodation in the area to another. “Last Wednesday, we saw cops enter the locality around 6am to arrest them,” Ghosh said.

Kolkata Police sources said Chakraborty was tracked by multiple agencies, with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) detailing the crimes she was involved in.

Deblina Chakraborty’s method of operation was uncomplicated. She would establish point of sale (POS) counters for leading telecom companies near slums where obtaining KYC documents is comparatively simple. Under the guise of unsuccessful verification attempts, she would gather thumb impressions from clients, while in reality processing successful verifications with the service provider and then obtaining several pre-activated SIM cards.