Panaji (Goa): A miffed Goa Police Chief Muktesh Chander has come down heavily on the retailers selling mobile SIM cards, for failing to verify the details of new mobile subscribers.

Addressing a press briefing amidst meeting with the police officers and SIM card dealers, the Director General of Police (DGP) said that as many as 15 cases are booked wherein subscribers have submitted forged documents to get mobile connections. It’s been shocking that out of those arrested including the SIM card operators, foreigners comprise the most.  “These foreigners are involved in drugs cases,” he said.

While no complaints were lodged, these cases came to the forefront at the time of investigation in other cases. “During investigation into different cases and interrogation of the accused, we realised they were using SIM cards which are actually registered in other names. On probing further, we came across instances wherein these accused submitted details of other persons including their photos and even fake signatures. These are not verified by the telecom operators,” he rued.

The department has warned the dealers as well as SIM card users for violating the KYC norms. Chander said the report of all these cases have even been forwarded to the central agency for further action.

Team TNV