Mangaluru (The Hindu): As many as 12 shops raided, documents seized; police promise more such surprise checks

The Central sub-division of the city police on Tuesday raided several establishments selling SIM cards to check whether they were being issued after receiving authentic ID proofs.

The raid was prompted by the detection of the use of SIM cards procured using fake IDs in order to commit crimes, including the Vinayak Baliga murder and the Charan murder, said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central) Uday M. Nayak.

Booked

The police have already booked cases against dealers who sold SIMs based on fake ID proofs to the accused in the two cases. Shiva, an accused in the Baliga murder case, had procured a SIM card in the name of one Karim, a resident of Udupi, in October 2015, even though the original ID card-holder died in May that year, Mr. Nayak told The Hindu .

He said 12 shops were raided in central Mangaluru, several suspect documents have been seized and four cases booked.

An individual with a proper ID proof can possess a maximum of three SIM cards from one service provider, subject to a cap of nine overall. However, unscrupulous elements as well as some SIM card dealers have been found using fake or multiple ID proofs to procure and sell SIM cards. This has only aided the commission of crimes, the officer said.

Mr. Nayak said the police plan to conduct surprise checks regularly on SIM card dealers to keep a tab on their activities.

Appeal to public

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) M. Shantharaju has appealed to people buying SIM cards to ensure that they provide their own ID proof and not to succumb to “easy offers” made by dealers.

An official release said that during the raid, several discrepancies, including mismatch of SIM number and ID proof, issuance of multiple SIM cards for a single ID proof, and not obtaining customer’s signature on application form, were found. The dealers will be booked under the relevant provisions, the police said.