In 2014, an employee of a cellular company filed an FIR (first information report) at the then Dwaraka Police station, alleging harassment by the company officials for not being able to achieve the given monthly target.
The complainant claimed that he was given steep targets and was being forced by the company officials to sell the connections through fraudulent means such as selling pre-activated SIM cards to people by forging the ID proofs submitted by genuine customers.
A petition was also filed at the First Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate to that effect and the court ordered an inquiry.
But the investigation was not taken up by the Police Department. And today, pre-activated SIM cards have become the most sought after tool of the criminals, be they the house breakers, cyber criminals or kidnappers.
The recent kidnapping and murder of eight-year-old Konathala Uday of Anakapalle, is a reminder to the SIM card racket, which was not checked on time and is being allowed to flourish unabated.
The kidnapper used a pre-activated SIM card to call Uday’s father and demand ransom. When the police tracked the call, they landed upon a customer who had de-activated the SIM about three months ago.
The police team was foxed and precious time was wasted in trying to track the SIM identity. It was realised that the SIM was purchased by the kidnapper by producing fake ID proofs.
Commissioner of Police Amit Garg in a meeting convened recently with the service providers of mobile networks, urged them to take appropriate measures to curb the selling of the pre-activated SIMS to unknown persons. He insisted on proper verification of documents as per the DOT norms, before issuing the SIM cards.
Pre-activated SIM cards have become the most sought after tool of the criminals, be they the house breakers, cyber criminals or kidnappers
