Dhaka, Nov 11 (UNB) – Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has seized 42,000 SIM cards, used for illegally routing international calls through voice over internet protocol (VoIP), during separate raids in the capital and port city in October.
Of the SIMs, 16,812 were of Robi, 15,949 of Teletalk, 6,176 of Banglalink and 3,223 of Grameenphone, said Md Jahurul Haque, acting chairman of the telecom watchdog at a press conference at his office on Sunday.
The seizure will save the loss of revenue over Tk 867 crore annually, he said adding that a total of 24 people have been arrested along with the SIMs and equipment valued worth TK 1.23 crore.
A joint team of BTRC and Rab conducted the drives in Dhanmondi, Tejgaon, Kadamtoli, Siddirganj, Pallabi and Mirpur from October 14-18 and Bayazid Bostami, Panchlaish, Baklia, Chawkbazar, Chandgaon, Sadarghat and Halishahar areas of the port city from October 21-31.
A total 28 cases were filed in connection with the seizure.