The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nasir Khan Durrani has requested the federal and provincial governments to enact stringent laws for curtailing the rampant use of illegal and fake SIMs by criminal and terrorist elements in the country.
According to the details, un-registered SIMs and SIMs issued in fake names are one of the main instrument in the hands of terrorists and criminals operating across the country. Investigations into a number of cases have revealed that terrorists use these SIMs for their nefarious designs which in turn makes it difficult for the investigative agencies to track them down. Recently, KP Police undertook an exercise to verify the mobile SIMs used by terrorists and extortionists operating in the province. The exercise revealed that all terrorists and extortionists are using SIMs which are either un-registered or issued under fake identities.
Although the Federal Government has made bio metric verification a pre-requisite for issuance of new SIM and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has also launched a campaign for SIM verification, the fact remains that despite all these steps, the terrorists and criminals continue to use fake SIMs for their nefarious activities.
Reportedly, the illegal use of SIMs is not an offence but only a violation under PTA Act 1996 and the PTA authorities can only issue explanation/show cause notice to the service provider/franchise issuing such SIMs. Needless to say, the existing regulatory regime is not sufficient to handle such a grave situation.
In view of the above, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police has requested the Federal and Provincial governments that possession of illegal/fake SIMs and issuance of SIMs without due verification by service providers/franchise be made a cognizable offence in which police and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) may have concurrent jurisdiction.
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