Punjab Police have detained 17 more people in a significant and ongoing crackdown on the theft of vital 4G and 5G telecom infrastructure that targets Bharti Airtel Limited. This brings the state's total number of arrests to 126 and First Information Reports (FIRs) to 140. Essential public communications services have not been widely disrupted as a result of these forceful enforcement operations.
Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in response to complaints of thefts involving valuable 4G and 5G infrastructure. In order to capture the suspect and retrieve a significant amount of stolen equipment, the SIT, led by Chairman Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rajpal Singh Sandhu, collaborated closely with district police units. The accused intentionally targeted high-value GUC1 Cards (Base Band Units), which are essential for the transmission of 4G and 5G signals, according to SIT Chairman IGP Rajpal Sandhu, who provided information. "The entire theft operation was executed in under two minutes, after which the culprits fled the scene," he stated. The public was deprived of necessary voice and data access as a result of these robberies, which seriously disrupted telecom services in the impacted areas.
"Further investigation is underway to trace both forward and backward linkages and unravel the entire criminal network," the IGP said, adding that Punjab Police have successfully disrupted the networks engaged in these thefts using a combination of technical monitoring and human intelligence. All anti-social elements have been advised by Punjab Police to stop their actions right away or risk severe legal repercussions. As the investigation goes on, more arrests are anticipated because district police forces have established specialized crack teams.