The Dharavi police has stumbled upon a larger fake SIM cards issuing racket, following the arrest of the 35-year-old Aircel distributor and suspect the role of a company employee, who is currently on the run. The suspect, whose name the police has withheld, is believed to have procured numerous pre-paid SIM cards by forging documents of legitimate customers and handed them over to the arrested person, with a view to show sales results.
“The absconding person is the kingpin of the entire scam. We even came across a witness, who got embroiled in an ATS investigation when the agency found a SIM card
bearing his address five years ago. The name was different, but the address was his. We realised that the photocopies of his original documents must have been superimposed with fake names. Even he was at a loss for words when questioned on how the registration details bore his address. All are prepaid cards that are procured in this fashion for persons who lack requisite documentation, but are interested in getting SIM cards,” explained PSI Rahul Rakh of the Dharavi police station.
The police had also come across a woman, a senior corporate executive, who was shocked to learn that 70 prepaid cards were registered against her name. “The problem here is that the document verification for prepaid cards is lax since the company has already received the money before the card’s usage. Applications for postpaid connections are scrutinised thoroughly. Companies are driven by showing a larger customer base, which makes them eligible for larger ‘spectrums’ by the union telecom ministry,” explained a police source.
Meanwhile, Sureshkumar Devrakkam Nadar, who was arrested, was remanded to judicial custody by the Bandra magistrate court on Tuesday. Interestingly, lawyers from Aircel were also present at the court on Tuesday and promised complete cooperation in the investigation.
Nadar’s police custody had lapsed on Tuesday when the police applied for an extension, which was denied.