Lucknow, May 9 (IANS): A major gang providing pre-activated SIM cards to Maoists in other states has been busted by the Lucknow police crime branch, police said Wednesday.

Two people were arrested late Tuesday in the operation. Thirty-seven BSNL SIM cards, 82 CAFs (Customer Authentication Forms), 82 identity proofs and 80 passport-size photographs were recovered from them.

The operatives were working for a franchise owned by K.P. Mittal in Tej Kumar Plaza. Superintendent of Police (Crime) Vipin Mishra said these SIM cards were being sold to some Maoist operatives in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Mishra told IANS that the duo were using SIM cards from Lucknow as they were out of the reach of surveillance because they were being used in different states. The SIM cards were being purchased from different districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

The arrested persons, identified as Ram Kumar and Kapil Dixit, have confessed to selling about 2,000 SIM connections so far.