Delhi: Illegal mobile manufacturing unit busted in Karol Bagh; 5 arrested

New Delhi, Nov 27 The Delhi Police have busted a large-scale illegal mobile manufacturing and IMEI tampering unit operating out of Karol Bagh, arresting five men and recovering 1,826 mobile phones as part of an intensified crackdown under Operation “CyberHawk”, the Delhi Police said on Thursday.  

The operation was carried out by the Karol Bagh police station after nearly two weeks of surveillance and groundwork aimed at curbing rising telecom-related offences in the area.

According to police, specific information was received about a unit that 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.”

Based on this input, a dedicated raiding team was formed under the supervision of the SHO Karol Bagh and the overall guidance of the ACP Karol Bagh.

“Based on the received information, a raid was conducted on 20.11.2025 at Aditya Electronics & Accessories, situated on the 4th floor in a building at Beedanpur, Karol Bagh, Delhi,” the police said in its press note.

“During the raid, five individuals were found present at the premises and were observed actively engaged in the assembly of mobile phones and alteration of IMEI numbers by using a laptop and specialised software. All five accused persons were apprehended at the spot,” it added.

The arrested accused have been identified as Ashok Kumar (45), owner of the unit, and four associates—Ramnarayan (36), Dharmender Kumar (35), Deepanshu (25), and Deepak (19).

During interrogation, they admitted to purchasing old or scrap mobile phones from local dealers while importing new phone bodies from China.

They would then assemble devices using old motherboards and new body parts before changing IMEI numbers using software identified as WRITEIMEI 0.2.2.

Police said the gang had been running this illegal operation for nearly two years and supplying the altered devices to buyers through various channels in Delhi’s markets.

The raid led to the recovery of 1,826 mobile phones, thousands of phone body parts, IMEI labels, a laptop used for tampering, IMEI-writing software, and scanning equipment.

“Further investigation regarding the source of motherboards, Supply chain, Distribution network, and Potential buyers/receivers is underway,” said DCP Nidhin Valsan.

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