Anyone involved in illegal activities using the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) facility will not be spared and the drive against them will continue, State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak declared on Sunday.
Such activities will not be tolerated under any circumstances, he added.
The state minister made the remarks while inspecting a large quantity of seized VoIP equipment, including around 17,000 illegal SIM cards, used in illegal VoIP operations, during a drive in Tongi, Gazipur on Sunday.
The operation is being conducted and will continue under the initiative of BTRC as the telecom sector regulator, in collaboration with the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre, or NTMC, which is legally mandated to monitor, collect and record communications over telco lines as part of intelligence gathering, and paramilitary force RAB.
Palak emphasized that the government is firm on shutting down illegal VoIP activities. Operators will be held responsible if SIM cards are sold through dealers without proper verification. In a joint operation with NTMC, RAB-1 conducted raids in Tongi on Saturday and seized a significant amount of illegal VoIP equipment and apprehended those involved.
The seized equipment included 11,500 SIMs of different mobile operators, 3 computers, 2 laptops, 1 mini PC, 7 modems, 15 routers and 5 network hubs.
Among others, BTRC Chairman Engineer Md Mohiuddin Ahmed, Director General of NTMC Major General Ziaul Ahsan and RAB-1 Captain Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Mostaq Ahmad were also present.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested two persons and busted an illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) centre from a house in Tongi on Saturday night.
The detainees were identified as Md Tajul Islam, 40, and Md Harun, 40.
Legal and Media Wing Director of RAB Commander Khandaker Al Moin said: “A team of RAB-1, in collaboration with the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), conducted a raid in the Tongi area of Gazipur and arrested the duo along with huge quantity of illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment”
Meanwhile, 32 SIM boxes used in VoIP business, about 11,500 SIMs of different companies, three computers, two laptops, one mini PC, seven modems, 15 routers, five network hubs, and a large amount of illegal VoIP equipment were recovered from them, he added.
After the operation, Minister of State for Posts, Telecommunication and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak, came to the scene and observed this illegal VoIP activity and learned about its origin and inspected the recovered equipment.
During preliminary interrogation, the arrested persons revealed that they are active members of this illegal VoIP business ring. They had been running this illegal business for 12 years.