Two arrested for buying SIMs with fake papers

KOLKATA: Two persons have been arrested by Kolkata Police (KP) for fraudulently obtaining SIM cards of mobile phones using fake documents, police said Saturday.

One person was arrested from Kashmir and another from the city in connection with the case of obtaining SIM cards using fake documents, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detective Department) Javed Shamim said.

At least 37 SIM cards were procured from Kolkata and adjacent areas and sent to Pakistan in the last two months, some of which security agencies believed were used during the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

They apprehended that the procurement of the SIM cards were part of the larger terror plan.

Sources in the Special Task Force specially set up to counter terrorist activities in West Bengal said, "So far we have been able to trace at least 37 SIM cards that were
bought from Kolkata and its nearby areas within the last two months and were sent to Pakistan via Kashmir. The cards were purchased mainly from Park Street in Kolkata, Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district and Santoshpur in South 24 Parganas district, the source said.

The owners of shops from where the SIMs were bought were detained for interrogation.

"The cards were purchased in lieu of some extra money. We suspect that this was to create a SIM card pool from which three were used in Mumbai attack," the source said.

The Mumbai police have traced five SIM cards used in the Mumbai attack of which three were procured from West Bengal.