Sale of pre-activated mobile SIMs baffles police, agencies

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 12

The rampant sale of pre-activated mobile SIMs with fake documents has left the security agencies, including the Police Department, baffled.

This has increasingly become a headache for police officials as these SIMs were being used by anti-national and anti-social elements, thereby creating a law and order problem in the border region.

Police investigations carried out in various cases revealed that telecom companies were selling pre-activated and postpaid SIMs in thousands in order to increase their customer base. However, in the process, an important aspect of verifying the credentials of the customers, as stipulated by the Department of Telecommunications, was being ignored.

Recently, the anti-narcotic cell of the city police had arrested a mobile-SIM vendor, identified as Gurjit Singh of East Mohan Nagar, who used to run a telecom shop opposite the Bhatanwala grain market. The police had recovered around 60 mobile SIMs from him, out of which eight were pre-activated.

Vavinder Mahajan, in charge of the cell, said the police recovered a number of fake documents used for issuing SIMs. “What he used to do is whenever a customer used to approach him for a new mobile number, he used to photocopy his ID proof and later used it for a pre-activated SIM,” said Mahajan. They also keep extra copies of passport-size photographs of the customers by scanning them onto their computers along with ID proofs for activating new connections. Though he did not have a direct link with gangsters, he used to sell the SIMs at higher rates.

City Police Commissioner Amar Singh Chahal said the mobile connection providers gave emphasis on achieving targets rather that following the proper procedure of verification. Ideally, no pre-paid or postpaid connection should be issued without physical verification, he added. He said this had become a major cause of concern among the security and intelligence agencies because notorious elements operated their networks using such numbers. There was always a constant fear that terrorists might also use these SIMs to carry out their nefarious designs, he added.

A vendor, wishing not to be named, said the company should not activate a SIM without proper physical verification. He said it was the duty of the telecom companies to verify their customers’ credentials after getting the documents from the vendors or dealers.

An official of Airtel, preferring anonymity, said the company did not provide pre-activated SIMs. He said now the company issued the number after physical verification and taking the thumb impression on a bio- metric machine.

IG, Special Task Force, Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh said the Police Department had already issued instructions to the telecom providers to properly verify the documents. He said the STF took action against the dealers who had issued the SIMs to gangsters and other notorious elements in the past. He said pre-activated mobile SIMs should not be issued at all.