Chandigarh, May 25 (IANS) To curb the menace of issuing SIM cards on fake identities, a major security threat, the Punjab Police have got blocked over 1.8 lakh SIM cards activated using fake identities and forged documents, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Thursday.
In one case 500 SIM cards have been issued with the same photograph but in different names by forging documents.
The Internal Security Wing in association with the Department of Telecom had begun a crackdown against distributors and agents selling SIM cards on fake identities.
Yadav said: "Action is being initiated against point of sales distributors, agents and other persons involved in issuing SIM cards on fake IDs."
The police have arrested 17 people, who were found involved in the sale of SIM cards on fake documents, besides registering 52 FIRs in the last three days.
Special DGP (Internal Security) R.N. Dhoke said that he had held multiple meetings with the Department of Telecom and telecom service providers. Subsequent to that action was taken.
He said Inspector General of Police (Counter Intelligence) Rakesh Agrawal has been made the nodal officer and a drive is on to further identify the SIM cards issued on fake IDs.
The special DGP also warned retailers of strict action for failing to comply with the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, a lapse that resulted in the activation of thousands of SIM cards fraudulently.
"Special teams of the Counter Intelligence Wing have been coordinating with the district police to zero in on SIM card retailers, who activated different mobile phone numbers with the same proof of identity," he said, adding that they are also taking up the matter with the telecom authorities to blacklist such agents.
SKM said that Union Budget 2023 is silent on the status of minimum support price (MSP) on crops as per recommendation of M.S. Swaminathan Commission and what shall be done to ensure that farmers get legal guarantee of MSP.
The accused were identified as Sardar Jagpal Singh, 51, Harjinder Singh Raina, 71 and Sudershan Singh Wazir, 67. Wazir is a cousin of the deceased J&K politician. The 68-year-old Wazir was found murdered in a flat in Delhi's Basai Darapur area in March, 2021.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Wednesday arrested an air passenger from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here for possessing 3,360 gram cocaine valued at Rs 33.60 crore. A DRI official said that they got a specific intelligence tip off that an Indian national arriving from Addis Ababa to Mumbai by Ethiopian Airlines flight might be carrying a narcotic substance.
They are accused of setting a shop and house on fire during the riots and police charge-sheeted them for committing offences punishable under Sections 147-149, 188, 427 and 436 of the Indian Penal Code.
When Jnanesh, a class 9 student, was watching mobile after coming back home from the Sacred Heart School, Vinaya scolded him for mobile addiction and asked him to put it away. The boy told his mother that he would come back after taking a bath. He went inside and hanged himself to death from a ceiling fan in his room on Monday evening.
Additional Sessions Judge, Patiala House courts, Harjyot Singh Bhalla, who had reserved his order on Monday, granted bail on the bail bond of Rs 1 lakh. He had noted that what Mishra has allegedly done is disgusting but the court is bound to follow the law.
