SRINAGAR, MAY 7: State Investigation Agency of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in a major crackdown on Saturday against the misuse of mobile phone SIM cards and their fraudulent sale by the vendors, conducted searches at 19 premises across Kashmir.
Most of the premises belonged to Point of Sale (PoS) vendors who had sold the SIM cards in violation of the regulations of the Department of Telecommunications and in a manner that amounts to foregery and cheating, official sources said.
In this context, they pointed out that in three cases, preliminary evidence strongly indicated that the SIMs were procured to help terrorists in maintaining their communication with their handlers across the border and other modules inside Jammu and Kashmir.
Giving details, sources said that one PoS vendor M/s Airtel Micro World in Kulgam’s Chawalgam area created a SIM card against a non-existent fictitious person Gowhar Ahmad Hajam and gave it to a person in Qaimoh (the same district) who turned out to be an Over Ground Worker (OGW) of terror outfit Ansar-u-Gazwatul Hind.
In another case, a PoS vendor in Anantnag’s Mor Mohalla Monghall created a SIM card for a subscriber who handed it over to an OGW of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. The houses of all the three including the vendor, subscriber and the OGW were searched to look for additional evidence.
In the third instance, four PoS vendors operating in different areas created SIM cards in the names of real persons by stealing their identity and misusing their identity documents. While one belonged to Pampore’s Konibal area, other Budgam’s Walina, Ichgam; third one Srinagar’s Barzullah and fourth Lasjan, sources said.
Pointing out that the government has decided to take stringent measures against PoS SIM card sellers who are found to be stealing identity documents of unsuspecting subscribers and creating SIM cards without their knowledge, they said that those found creating SIM cards on the basis of forged documents in the name of persons who donot exist in real life will also be proceeded against by invoking most stern provisions of law.
The police said that action would also be taken against PoS SIM card sellers and the subscribers who procure more than six SIM cards which is the maximum number allowed to a person. It also advised the Telephone service providers to maintain proper database to prevent dishonest PoS SIM card sellers and subscribers who while applying for additional SIM cards try to cheat the system by not disclosing about the SIM cards already issued to them by other service providers.
Meanwhile, government is considering to make it an offence if a person willingly gives his SIM card to a person other than a family member for occasion or emergency use.
The PoS SIM card sellers and subscribers who voluntarily come to the police station and surrender their excess SIM cards (more than six) would escape criminal liability, said a senior police officer. The PoS SIM card sellers who have issued SIM cards in different names using the photo of one person are also likely to be searched and if found guilty, may be arrested and blacklisted from all government benefits and contracts, he added.
