Surat duo sent to police remand in ‘digital arrest case’, supplied 438 SIM cards to Cambodia gang

Two cousins from Surat have been sent to police remand for the death of a farmer by suicide following a ‘digital arrest’ threat in Kayavarohan village of Dabhoi, Vadodara. Police say both accused were linked to a Cambodia-based cybercrime network and had been supplying them with large quantities of SIM cards.

The case came to light after the suicide of farmer Atul Patel. His mobile phone was seized and sent for forensic analysis, where investigators found several suspicious numbers and alarming messages. Based on these findings, Dabhoi police registered a case against unidentified persons for driving the farmer to suicide through a digital extortion scam.

During the investigation, police arrested Nikunj Pansuriya, a resident of Surat, and his cousin Henil Pansuriya also from Surat. Both originally hail from Nesdi village in Savarkundla, Amreli. According to police, Nikunj had been buying SIM cards illegally, while Henil assisted him by checking whether the SIMs were active using basic keypad phones.

Nikunj told police that his friend Chintan Mandaliya, who runs an online gaming operation, had asked him to arrange SIM cards through the black market. He allegedly procured them from Prakash Gajera of Surat. After purchasing the SIMs, Nikunj used new keypad phones to verify their activation and then handed them over to Chintan, with Henil helping him when required.

Vadodara district police officials stated that a total of 538 SIM cards were procured by the accused, out of which 438 were delivered to the gang believed to be operating from Cambodia. Investigators suspect these SIMs were later used in cyber fraud, extortion and digital arrest scams targeting victims across India.