police in the sensitive coastal city of Mangalore are turning a blind eye to dealers who supply cards without following norms.
Even as terrorists are using bogus prepaid SIM cards to plot and coordinate attacks across the country, police in the sensitive coastal city of Mangalore are turning a blind eye to dealers who supply cards without following norms.
Talking to DNA, BJP MLC Ganesh Karnik said about 13 distributors in the jurisdiction of Uppinangadi police stations are supplying SIM cards to individuals without collecting any information from them.
“I’m not telling this as a BJP man but as a retired soldier. It’s a grave national threat,” said Karnik. Mangalore police had been strictly told to get the details of the sale of SIM cards of different companies to various individuals.
“Dakshina Kannada has grown as the most sensitive district as far as terrorism is concerned. Today, communication is everything and I strongly believe that there is foul play. It is up to the individuals to believe it or not. Terrorism had got its foothold in Mangalore and it’s not safe for the state to ignore this negligence by the police,” he said.
Karnik said although he raised this sensitive issue in the council, he got only a written reply from the home minister. The issue could not be discussed as ‘porngate’ scandal dominated the session.
“But I’ll not leave the issue at this point. I will take up the matter with Mangalore SP. I do follow up and make the police to dig what is happening with the 13 SIM card distributors in Uppinangadi police station limits,” he said.
Central intelligence agencies have given strict instructions to SIM card dealers to collect the photograph and address proof of applicants at the point of sale.
The dealers should also submit their sale list every month to the respective jurisdictional police station. Unfortunately, due to unhealthy competition, dealers of SIM cards are not following these norms. “Today, we can’t take chances. We’ll have to do something about this,” Karnik said.
Home minister R Ashoka, in his written reply, however, claimed that there were no violations by SIM card sellers or distributors in the state.
He said action had been taken in 13 cases in Bangalore city, two cases in Bangalore Rural district and a case each in Mandya and Hassan districts for distributing SIM cards without collecting the necessary documents.
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