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.
According to some reports, the first case of BF.7 has been detected by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research centre. This new Omicron variant is also considered to be highly infectious and has a greater transmissibility. Omicron sub-variants -- BA.5.1.7 and BF.7 -- after emerging from a region of Mongolia in China are now making their way to other parts and posing fresh threats.
Farmers stated that they have been protesting at zero point of Yamuna Expressway for the last three days for their various demands, yet they are being ignored. "The District Administration wants to forcefully end the protest, but we will not allow it to happen," they alleged. Recently, Rakesh Tikait, the national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, had also come to participate in this demonstration.
During the parole, he will be staying on the Dera's premises in Rajasthan. He has been lodged in Sunaria jail since 2017 after being convicted in rape and murder cases. Last year he was also released from the jail thrice for various reasons, including his plea to meet the ailing mother.
Shubham Garg, 28, who is pursuing PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of New South Wales, was stabbed multiple times on his face, chest and abdomen when he was walking along the Pacific Highway while returning to his place of residence.
The police said that they got the PCR call at around 11.15 p.m. that the flight which was coming from Moscow, and was scheduled to land at 3.20 a.m., had a bomb in it. After receiving the call all the security agencies were put on standby the whole night.
One of her daughters,the woman said, was sexually exploited by the accused seer till she attained puberty. She had admitted her daughters to SJM Kannada medium school in 2016 in third and first standards. They stayed at the mutt's residential facility.
