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.
Meanwhile, according to sources in the know of things, Tharoor, who got 16 members from Kerala to put their signature in his nomination form, has managed to secure 130 votes out of the 297 votes from his home state, which is a very tall figure given the fact practically all the bigwigs from Kerala stood rock stock and barrel for Malikarjuna Kharge, who beat Tharoor by a mile.
"This is a revolutionary step aimed at supplementing the income of the farmers to bail them out from the agrarian crisis," he said after inaugurating Verka's newly-built milk processing and butter plant here. The Chief Minister said that the state government has inked an agreement with the Delhi government in this regard.
Five grenades and two automatic pistols were also recovered from the possession of Deepak alias Teenu, a resident of Haryana's Bhiwani. Police said that Deepak, a member of Lawrence Bishnoi-Kala Jathedi-Sampat Nehra gang
"During investigation, the Rajasthan Police's Crime Branch nabbed three accused, who had also demanded a ransom from the victims' families," said a senior police official. "On sustained interrogation, the accused confessed to having killed the children and dumping the bodies in a jungle behind Qutub Minar metro station," he said.
Aviation regulator DGCA has launched a probe into the Kedarnath helicopter crash in which seven people, including the pilot, were killed on Tuesday. The helicopter, carrying pilgrims, crashed after takeoff from the Kedarnath shrine near Garud Chatti in Rudraprayag at around 11.40 a.m.
Addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the Gujarat government affidavit "proves beyond a shadow of doubt that the release was a political decision made with not just the knowledge but the concurrence of those in the highest echelons of power in the Modi government".
