State Investigation Agency on Tuesday said that it has booked a SIM card vendor in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district involved in the misuse of SIM cards and their fraudulent sale.
According to an official, SIA today conducted searches at two locations in Kupwara district in connection with case FIR No. 14/2022 U/s 13 UA (P) Act, 120-B, 420,468,471 IPC of Police Station SIA/CIK, Srinagar.
He said that two premises belonged to Javid Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Mohalla Gunwari Gugloosa, Kupwara, who is the proprietor of “Bhat Telecom”, which sold these SIM cards in violation of 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 terrorist organizations, and narcotic smugglers is 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 if other ways and means have been adopted for forging required documents for obtaining SIM cards.”
“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.”
COID It is also planning to request the Department of Telecommunication to extend the facility (TAFCOP) to J & K that has been made available by DoT to many states wherein a subscriber can check online through a special portal if SIM cards are being used by unknown persons against his name and without his knowledge.
