Parallel telephone exchange: Mastermind arrested

CHALAKKUDY: The investigation team led by Chalakudy DySP CR Santhosh arrested Malappuram Kottakkal native Punnakottil Mohammad Saleem (37), the mastermind behind the incident where parallel telephone exchanges were found at various places in Ernakulam district and Koratti. Salim was arrested from Malappuram and taken to Aluva for evidence collection.

Mohammad Salim was the one who paid for the parallel telephone exchange and took the helm. Salim was in charge of the exchange in flat in Aluva and his assistants were in charge at rest of the exchanges. He worked in Ernakulam and Koratti for two months. The investigation team says there has been no significant financial gain. Meanwhile, another group was caught in a similar case in Bangalore and they went into hiding. There is no evidence of links to terrorist organizations or other treasonous activities. Four computers were recovered from the offices. A modem and 28 SIM cards of various companies were seized from the centre in Aluva. With this, the number of those arrested in the case has increased to four. The group had parallel telephone exchanges in Perumbavoor, Kalamassery, Pathalam, Aluva, Athani and Koratti. Salim was a teacher in Dubai and later ran a textile business. He then turned to the parallel telephone exchange field in Dubai.