New Delhi, Nov 27 — The Delhi Police said that a large‑scale illegal mobile‑manufacturing and IMEI‑tampering ring based in Karol Bagh has been shut down. Under the intensified “CyberHawk” operation, investigators seized 1,826 phones and hauled five men into custody.
The raid was carried out by the Karol Bagh police station after almost two weeks of undercover surveillance and groundwork, aimed at curbing the spike in telecom‑related crimes around the area. Officers had been tipped off that a unit was “using old/used mobile phone motherboards, assembling them with new mobile body parts, changing IMEI numbers through specialised software and selling these illegally manufactured/altered devices in the market.” A specialised raiding team was assembled under the supervision of the SHO and the overall guidance of the ACP of Karol Bagh.
On 20 November 2025, the team entered Aditya Electronics & Accessories on the fourth floor of a building in Beedanpur, Karol Bagh, Delhi. Officers found five men actively building phones and modifying their IMEIs with a laptop and specialized software, and all of them were taken into custody on the spot.
The accused were identified as Ashok Kumar, 45, who runs the unit, and four associates—Ramnarayan (36), Dharmender Kumar (35), Deepanshu (25) and Deepak (19). During interrogation, the men admitted to buying old or scrap mobile phones from local dealers and importing new casings from China. They would combine the old motherboards with the new bodies and then change the IMEIs using the software identified as WRITEIMEI 0.2.2.
Police said the gang had been operating for nearly two years, supplying the tampered phones to buyers through various channels in Delhi market. The raid recovered 1,826 phones, thousands of body parts, IMEI labels, a tampering laptop, the WRITEIMEI 0.2.2 software and scanning equipment.
“Further investigation is underway to trace the source of the motherboards, the supply chain, the distribution network, and possible buyers or receivers,” added DCP Nidhin Valsan.
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