An emerging threat has been identified by the city police, through recent breakthroughs made in and around the city. The new danger involves a network of people who are carrying on illegal trade in SIM cards and activating those without any verification which is mandatory.
The trade, according to sources, involves multiple players and contains serious implications not just for end users, but also has the potential to abet criminal activities to a large extent.
Only today, dozens of SIM cards were recovered from a woman in a rented accommodation in west Guwahati, which were to be sold to customers willing to pay not less than Rs 200 for each card. In this particular instance, the person was picked up after police gathered credible inputs from their sources. It is believed that with this breakthrough the police will nab more people in the days ahead. It is likely that police will also be questioning personnel working for two major cell service providers.
Sources revealed that the SIM cards which are illegally sold in the market are usually bought by people who have difficulty in producing the documents required for verification of their identity by the phone companies. They are willing to pay an extra amount to use a SIM that has not been activated through the established verification process.
The illegal trade involves a chain of people, which can go up to those who actually procure the cards in bulk and, thereafter, provide those to persons who can sell those to customers. The small suppliers then in connivance with their suppliers activate the cards with either forged documents or with no documents.
For the police and security agencies the problem is serious, because users of such cards can make calls for carrying out criminal and subversive acts. Even though the calls can be traced, the user can easily evade the police scanner because he or she has not provided authentic personal details in the first place. There is the added possibility that militant organisations can fulfil their communication needs by using such cards which were issued with no cross checking.
The trade, according to sources, involves multiple players and contains serious implications not just for end users, but also has the potential to abet criminal activities to a large extent.
Only today, dozens of SIM cards were recovered from a woman in a rented accommodation in west Guwahati, which were to be sold to customers willing to pay not less than Rs 200 for each card. In this particular instance, the person was picked up after police gathered credible inputs from their sources. It is believed that with this breakthrough the police will nab more people in the days ahead. It is likely that police will also be questioning personnel working for two major cell service providers.
Sources revealed that the SIM cards which are illegally sold in the market are usually bought by people who have difficulty in producing the documents required for verification of their identity by the phone companies. They are willing to pay an extra amount to use a SIM that has not been activated through the established verification process.
The illegal trade involves a chain of people, which can go up to those who actually procure the cards in bulk and, thereafter, provide those to persons who can sell those to customers. The small suppliers then in connivance with their suppliers activate the cards with either forged documents or with no documents.
For the police and security agencies the problem is serious, because users of such cards can make calls for carrying out criminal and subversive acts. Even though the calls can be traced, the user can easily evade the police scanner because he or she has not provided authentic personal details in the first place. There is the added possibility that militant organisations can fulfil their communication needs by using such cards which were issued with no cross checking.
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