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.
A Delhi Police team on Wednesday again visited the rented house, in south Delhi's Chhattarpur, of Aftab Ameen Poonawalla (28), who has been arrested for allegedly killing his live-in partner and chopping her body into 35 pieces for disposal. According to a senior police official, the police team, along with forensic teams, inspected the house again.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday interacted with several world leaders during the ongoing 17th G20 Summit in Bali, including US and French Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, as well as his British counterpart Rishi Sunak. The Prime Minister's Office shared several photographs of his meetings with the world leaders.
For the second time on Tuesday morning, the police team took the accused Aftab Ameen Poonawala to the Mehrauli forest area to recover the remains of the body of Shraddha Walker which the accused chopped into 35 pieces. He was first taken to the area on Monday.
The body of a man, appearing to be in his early 30s, was found stuffed in a suitcase outside the railway station in Punjab's Jalandhar city on Tuesday, police said. The police reached the spot and found a red suitcase just outside railway station.
The bench noted that after its last orders in the matter, except two meetings of the Ghaggar Standing Committee, no concrete steps have been taken by the state governments on the recommendations made by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune.
Lovingly called Chacha Nehru, Nov 14th is celebrated as Children's Day in India. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889 in Allahabad (now known as Prayagraj). Nehru was involved in the freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and went to jail several times.
