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.
The visa backlog issue is of utmost concern to the Indian students who are trying to return to educational institutions in Australia following the Covid pandemic. Jaishankar, who is on his second visit to Australia, said he was assured that the situation has improved and about 77,000 Indian students are back in Australia.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Special Cell, Jasmeet Singh said that the arrested gangsters, identified as Deepak Arora alias Deepa alias Popat and Gulshan Kumar alias Gulia, were arrested from the Lado Sarai area in the national capital.
BJP leader Bagga had moved the High Court while challenging the non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him by a Mohali Court in May. While pronouncing the judgment in Bagga case, Justice Anoop Chitkara said the court had seen all the tweets and posts placed on record by the parties.
In view of the current escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to and within Ukraine. They must strictly follow the safety and security guidelines issued by the Ukrainian Government and local authorities, the advisory said.
India reported 1,957 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, against 2,424 Covid cases recorded on the previous day, said the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday. In the same period, the country has recorded 8 more Covid related deaths, taking the death toll to 5,28,822 as per the report.
Badal's assertions come in the wake of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar saying that he will be meeting his Punjab counterpart regarding the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal on October 14 in Chandigarh.
