Kathmandu, March 13

As part of its crackdown on illegal Voice over Internet Protocol call centres, the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police has appealed to all mobile phone users to call toll-free number 188 (Nepal Telecom) or 9851283140 (CIB), if any international call reads a local number in their caller ID.

Call by-passers make use of VoIP GSM Gateways to divert international calls from the official gateway. The call is transferred to telecom subscribers through a GSM SIM card. The ISD then displays a personal caller ID on the receiver’s gadget.

A press statement issued by the CIB today said any such information would help track illegal VoIP operators.

According to the officials, there is a nexus between VoIP operators at home and abroad. They block the telecom service provider’s official gateway, making crime investigation more complex.

The Central Investigation Bureau is having a tough time tracking calls that bypass the traditional telephone system, said Superintendent of Police Dibesh Lohani.

Criminal gangs were found to have used VoIP for making call in many case. The perpetrators of Jamim Shah murder in 2010 had made calls using VoIP.

According to the Telecommunications Act, 2053 BS, any person convicted of posing a threat to the telecommunications systems is liable to a fine equal to the principal amount of damage caused or jail sentence of up to five years or both.

According to the supreme investigative agency of Nepal Police, it has so far rounded up 134 VoIP racketeers in 87 raids in various places of the country. Of them, 134 are foreigners, mostly Bangladeshis.