Goa Police have disclosed that out of the offenders arrested since 2016, 15 accused in various cases, including drug trade, were found to have used SIM cards obtained fraudulently.
Panaji
Steps have been adopted to remedy the situation, with a high-level coordination committee meeting convened by Director General of Police on Thursday. The meeting was attended by officers of Goa Police, executives of cellular service providing agencies and telecommunications officers of the Government of India.
Police revealed that most of these 15 accused were foreigners arrested in illicit drug trade and online financial frauds. Sources have informed that the persons booked under NDPS cases more often than not use fraudulently obtained SIM cards.
The use of such SIM cards was also detected in cyber crime cases, including the case wherein two Nigerian nationals were arrested by Goa Police along with Delhi crime branch in October 2016 for defrauding several persons, mostly women, by befriending them over social networking sites.
SIM cards were obtained in the name of local residents without any passport or other documents attached to the application, and the SIMs were thereafter misused for illegal activities, it was learnt. - Police have demanded making biometric details mandatory for obtaining SIM cards
Briefing the media at the Police Headquarters, DGP Dr Muktesh Chander stated, “Since 2016-17, 15 criminals have been found to have used SIM cards obtained fraudulently, registered using some other person’s details, photo and signature. These coordination issues were discussed as it is hard to trace such people. We have demanded for stricter implementation of Know Your Customer (KYC) norms.”
DGP rued that presently, KYC norms are not implemented strictly at the ground level. As required by the present telecommunications regulations, Goa Police have forwarded the report of all such companies along with the SIM details and other information to the term cell for further action.
“KYC norms are thrown to the wind. Companies are handing out SIM cards like onions and potatoes. Making biometric details mandatory should prove to be a strong preventive measure,” DGP Chander opined.
