Srinagar: The State Investigation Agency (SIA) NIA alike raided 19 locations across Kashmir over Sim card misuse.
"A majority of the premises belonged to Point of Sale (POS) vendors who sold these cards in violation of Department of Telecom regulations and in a manner that amounts to forgery and cheating," SIA said in a statement.
"In three cases, preliminary evidence strongly indicated that the SIMS were procured to help the militants in maintaining their communication with their handlers across the border and other modules inside J&K," the statement reads.
"For example, one PoS vendor in Chawalgam in Kulgam under the name M/S Airtel Micro World created a SIM card against a Non-existent factious person namely Gowhar Ahmad Hajam and gave the SIM card to a person in Qaimoh, Kulgam who turned out to be an OGW of militant outfit Ansar-u- Gazwatul Hind," the statement said.
"In another case, a PoS vendor of Mir Mohalla Monghall, Anantnag gave a SIM card to a subscriber who handed it over to an OGW of HM outfit. The houses of all the three (the vendor, the subscriber and the OGW) were searched to look for additional evidence," it said.
"In the third case, four POS vendors one belonging to Konibal in Pampore, another to Walina, Ichgam in Budgam, the third one to Barzullah in Srinagar and forth one to Lasjan gave SIM cards in the name of real persons by stealing their identity and misusing their identity documents," the statement added.
Subsequently, these POS vendors fraudulently gave the SIM cards to unauthorized persons without the knowledge of the original persons, it added.
Government has decided to take stringent measures against POS SIM card sellers who are found to be stealing identity documents of unsuspecting subscribers and creating SIM cards without the knowledge of original subscribers, the statement said.
Similarly, POS SIM card sellers who are found prescribing SIM cards on the basis of forged documents in the name of persons who do not exist in real life will also be proceeded against by invoking the most stern provisions of law.
Action would also be taken against POS SIM card sellers and subscribers who obtain SIM cards in excess of six cards which is the maximum number of SIM cards a person is allowed, the statement informed.
The telephone service providers have been strongly advised to maintain proper database to prevent dishonest POS SIM card sellers and subscribers to cheat the system by not disclosing their already issued SIM cards obtained from other service providers at the time of applying for additional new cards.
The statement added that the government is also considering to make it an offence if a person willingly gives his SIM card to a person other than to a family member for occasional and emergency use.
