300,000 fake connections: MTNL officials booked

In a one-of-its-kind case, the Central Bureau of Investigation has booked two senior Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited officers for allegedly conniving with dealers who activated nearly 300,000 fake mobile phone connections for financial gains to the tune of nearly Rs 7 crore (Rs 70 million).

A deputy general manager for Global System for Mobile Communications services and assistant general manager (sales) of MTNL, Mumbai, had allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with nine distributors of MTNL subscriber identity module (SIM) cards and helped them in extracting commission from the company on the basis of fake customer forms, CBI spokesperson said.

Sleuths of the agency swooped down on the official and residential premises of the MTNL authorities and nine distributors.

They seized large number of incriminating documents and computer hard disks used for activating fake connections.