SIM on forged papers, 141 FIRs registered
Ambika Sharma
Solan, July 4
As many as 141 FIRs have been registered across the state against the dealers for selling SIM cards on forged documents over the past three days.
Since these fraudulently issued SIMs can be misused by criminals, gangsters, anti-national elements and drug smugglers, the Director General of Police has directed all districts to register FIRs against those providing SIM cards on forged documents.
In all, 3,694 mobile phone connections have been allotted on the basis of forged documents by various cellular companies through 970 points of sale across the state, suggests a preliminary probe.
A list of such SIM cards was provided by various cellular operators, including BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Vodaphone and Reliance Jio, to the police headquarters. The information was further conveyed to the districts where FIRs were being registered against such SIM card dealers since July 1. Such SIMs were identified through software analysis.
The figures secured from the police revealed that 57 FIRs were registered in various districts yesterday, while 49 were registered on July 2 and 35 on July 1.
So far, 11 FIRs have been registered in Baddi, 12 in Bilaspur, 15 each in Chamba, Nurpur, Kangra, Shimla, Solan and Hamirpur, 18 in Kinnaur, seven in Kullu and three in Una districts.
“Multiple SIM cards have been issued against a single address and a single photo. These SIMs have been categorised as ‘fake’ by various cellular companies,” said a police officer. Once the probe established that these SIM cards were issued fraudulently, these would be deactivated, he added.
“Fifteen FIRs have been registered in Solan over the past three days under Sections 420 and 465 of the IPC for cheating and forgery against the points of sale of various cellular companies that issued these cards on fake documents,” said Yogesh Rolta, Additional SP, Solan.
