The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has detained two men in Dhaka for selling highly sensitive equipment which can be used to modify the default settings of the mobile network functionalities in a designated area.
The law enforcement agency has also recovered a sizable cache of the items like jammers, repeaters and boosters from the men - Md Abu Noman, 28, and Sohel Rana, 37, reports bdnews24.com.
Some of this equipment, in the wrong hands, could be used to mask signals to misdirect law enforcement agencies and hide the digital footprints of people with criminal intent, according to a RAB spokesman.
Director of the RAB-3 unit Lt Col Arif Mohiuddin Ahmed said they seized four network jammers, 24 jammer antennae, three network boosters, nine outdoor booster antennae, 26 indoor booster antennae and a laptop during a raid on Saturday.
Briefing the media about the developments on Sunday afternoon, Lt Col Arif said their investigations revealed that the perpetrators have been selling these types of highly sensitive equipment, along with some mainstream electronic and digital items, without proper documentation using e-commerce sites and Facebook pages.
Bangladeshi law does not allow anyone to sell these kinds of network equipment without a proper license from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission as they can be used to infiltrate 2G, 3G and 4G networks and modify the default settings.
In a preliminary questioning, both Noman and Rana conceded that their customers are mainly people with criminal intent and people who live in multi-storied buildings in the metropolitan areas, according to the RAB commander.
They have sold at least 200 such pieces of equipment in the last two years, Lt Col Arif said.
Noman and Rana have been importing this equipment by hiding them in the packaging of legitimate items brought through proper channels in the past few years.
