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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
SRINAGAR: The Special Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police booked a SIM card vendor in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir in a crackdown on the misuse of SIM cards and their fraudulent sale.
The move came in the face of the ever-increasing misuse of SIM cards by terrorists, their Over Ground Workers (OGWs), associates, narcotics smugglers and other criminals.
The police searched two locations belonging to Javid Ahmad Bhat, s/o Ali Mohammad Bhat and a resident of Mohalla Gunwari Gugloosa, Kupwara, who is the proprietor of Bhat Telecom. In an FIR, the police stated that Bhat sold SIM cards in violation of the department of Telecom regulations and in a manner that amounts to forgery and cheating.
The basic allegation that has triggered the criminal investigation is that the proprietor of Bhat Telecom as a part of a criminal conspiracy hatched with OGWs, sympathizers of militant organizations, and narcotic smugglers are involved in preparing and selling SIM cards of various telecom companies by using fraudulent and dishonest methods.
“Prima facie evidence has become available to show that forging of records has taken place wherein photos of a single person have been used to prepare multiple SIM cards with different names and identities. It is being investigated if this is the only method or other ways and means have been adopted for forging required documents for obtaining SIM cards,” the police stated.
During searches conducted today, incriminating materials such as digital devices, SIM cards, SD cards, Compact disks, bank transaction slips and documents having a bearing on the investigation have been recovered and seized.
CID is also coordinating similar investigations by various police stations across J&K pertaining to as many as 14000 SIM cards that have been fraudulently issued by stealing identities and forging records. “Out of about 28000 SIM card vendors, more than a thousand vendors are under scanner for issuing these fraud SIM cards to fictitious persons,” the police said.
