Police arrest 3 members of group involved in issuing SIMs illegally
Police recover many stolen phones and SIMS which they said were issued illegally.
BAHAWALPUR:
Police arrested three suspects on Wednesday belonging to a group allegedly involved in issuing SIMs on fake identities, Express News reported.
The Bahawalpur police conducted a raid in the city on a tip-off received from CCPO Quetta Mir Zubair, who had told him that the number used by the group involved in abducting Dr Saeed Khan for ransom was traced down to Ahmad Pur Sharkia area.
Upon the information, DPO Bahawalpur constituted an investigative team headed by SHO Bahawalpur Shafqat Ata, which arrested the suspects, identified as Imran, Ahmed and Zubair.
The police also recovered many stolen phones and SIMS which they said were issued illegally.
Earlier, the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) had issued a notification to telecom operators that cellular service providers will not be allowed to sell new SIMs through franchises, customer service centres or retailers from November 30.
Service providers will also have to verify all unregistered SIMs by December 12. Unregistered ones will be blocked permanently using a 5% illegal SIMs per week formula, it adds.
PTA had also asked service providers to block the entire stock of SIMs available in the market so no SIMs can be purchased from outlets starting December 1.
Sources had said the interior ministry had issued some important directives to PTA regarding unregistered SIMs, which pose a great threat to national security.
Police arrested three suspects on Wednesday belonging to a group allegedly involved in issuing SIMs on fake identities, Express News reported.
The Bahawalpur police conducted a raid in the city on a tip-off received from CCPO Quetta Mir Zubair, who had told him that the number used by the group involved in abducting Dr Saeed Khan for ransom was traced down to Ahmad Pur Sharkia area.
Upon the information, DPO Bahawalpur constituted an investigative team headed by SHO Bahawalpur Shafqat Ata, which arrested the suspects, identified as Imran, Ahmed and Zubair.
The police also recovered many stolen phones and SIMS which they said were issued illegally.
Earlier, the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) had issued a notification to telecom operators that cellular service providers will not be allowed to sell new SIMs through franchises, customer service centres or retailers from November 30.
Service providers will also have to verify all unregistered SIMs by December 12. Unregistered ones will be blocked permanently using a 5% illegal SIMs per week formula, it adds.
PTA had also asked service providers to block the entire stock of SIMs available in the market so no SIMs can be purchased from outlets starting December 1.
Sources had said the interior ministry had issued some important directives to PTA regarding unregistered SIMs, which pose a great threat to national security.