Illegal international gateway exchanges: 2 arrested during raids in Cantt

Equipment seized; FIR registered.

LAHORE:

Two people were arrested on Tuesday by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) during three raids in the Cantt area, from where 12 illegal international gateway exchanges were being operated.

One of the two men is suspected to be the ringleader of the gang running the illegal operations.

The raids were conducted by the National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR-3C) of the agency.

FIA Cyber Crime Circle Additional Director FIA Cyber Crime Circle Shahid Hussain said that the Cyber Crime Circle Police Station had registered an FIR against the men under Sections 36 (violation of privacy of information), 37 (damage to information system) of the Electronic Transaction Ordinance 2002,

Section 31(1) of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganisation) Act 1996 – which defines what constitutes an offence under the act – and Sections 109 (punishment of abetment) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Pakistan Penal Code has been registered.

According to the FIR, a team raided the office of Western Exports Pvt Ltd (Suite 9, second floor, Defence Commercial Plaza, Y-Block, DHA) after receiving a tip that an illegal gateway exchange was being operated at the premises by “illegally terminating International Voice Traffic through this Illegal Gateway Exchange”.

The raiding team searched the office and found equipment used to operate the exchange.

Two men, present in the office at that time, were taken into custody.

One of the men, who the team believes is the ringleader, told the team about two other illegal exchanges: at houses in Mohalla Usmania Masjid Peer Colony, Lahore Cantt and in Sector HH, Phase-4, DHA. The FIA team raided the two places and seized the equipment being used to run the exchange.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2013.