As retail sellers ignore security measures, threat to national security looms large
Greed and ignorance of retail sellers of mobile SIM cards pose a threat to national security now.
The
city and district police units have come across retailers selling SIM
cards of a mobile phone operator without verifying the identity of the
buyers.
They do not bother to collect copies of photographs, proofs of identity and address, which are mandatory to hand over SIM cards.
Only
last month, the city police arrested a man and his son, running a
retail shop at Narimedu, for selling SIM cards, ignoring these security
precautions.
The concern of the police that easily
available SIM cards could be misused/abused by criminals proved right in
the recent kidnap of a Rajasthani youth, Rahul Singh.
When
the police tried to trace the culprits through the mobile phone numbers
they used to demand a ransom of Rs.10 lakh, they failed.
For,
a retailer in Munichalai had sold the two SIM cards without collecting
the mandatory documents, Inspector of Police (Avaniyapuram) R.Uma
Shankar said.
“The shopkeeper had ignored the security feature and given the SIM cards by collecting extra money,” he said.
Stating
that mobile phone tracking had made it easier for the police to locate
criminals, the Inspector wondered what would happen if retailers allowed
anyone to get SIM cards without checking his documents.
The
police said in the case of the retail seller of Narimedu, the SIM cards
were sold to unknown persons by misusing documents submitted by buyers
of SIM cards.
“They had also sold activated SIM
cards. This means the subscribers need not wait for a couple of hours to
get their SIM cards activated,” the police said.
The police added that any person could use the SIM cards to make obscene calls, threatening calls or nuisance calls.
However, it could become more dangerous when those cards land in the hands of anti-social elements or hard-core criminals.
“Anti-social
elements could smuggle these SIM cards into prisons for use by
convicts. Even if the authorities manage to intercept the calls, they
will not be able to trace the culprits,” a city police officer said.
Another officer said the SIM cards could also be used as a remote-controlled device to explode bombs.
Will the authorities ensure a fool-proof system to monitor issue of SIM cards?
Source: http://to.ly/mgPi