Author: Majid Jahangir
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 10, 2007
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/22946.html
Introduction: Probe finds SIM card obtained
via fraud application, complete with stamp and signatures
A J&K police investigation into a militant
attack, where a roadside bomb was triggered by a mobile phone in Baramulla
last year - the first such attack in the Valley - has sent alarm bells ringing
across the security establishment. It has been found that militants fraudulently
procured the cellphone's Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card on a fake Army
man's name, photograph in uniform, unit name, address and even faked a certificate
with a stamp of his superior, a Lieutenant Colonel.
On December 27, aiming at an Army convoy,
militants had triggered an improvised explosive device planted along the national
highway in the outskirts of Baramulla. The bomb missed its target and injured
three pedestrians. A police team found pieces of a mobile phone amid the debris.
The discovery rattled security agencies: the bomb was detonated by dialing
the mobile phone attached to the hidden IED, pressing a three-digit code that
triggered it instantaneously.
Although the handset was damaged, its SIM
was intact. A probe found that it was registered with Airtel in the name of
Madan Rana, son of Anil Rana, resident of Calcutta, 408 Field Ambulance C/O
56 APO.
The card (phone number 9906817469) was bought
from Airtel's retail outlet in Tappar, not far from the site of the explosion.
In fact, the registration form for the SIM had a photograph of an Army man
in uniform and was stamped by one Lt Col D Mundiran of 408 Field Ambulance.
"We checked and it is all fake. The unit
is not posted in the valley and there is no personnel with such name in 408
Field Ambulance unit. They are Army Medical Corps doctors and there has been
no Lt Colonel D Mundiran there,'' Defence spokesman Col. A K Mathur told The
Indian Express. "It is mischief. Somebody with a little bit of knowledge
about the Army has faked all this."
"We are investigating ten SIM cards.
Every militant we capture has a mobile phone. There is every likelihood that
the SIM card was procured by the militants from Airtel on a fake name of an
Army man. It is a serious matter and we are investigating all possibilities,''
Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Viplav Kumar said.
Police said they are also looking at tightening
safeguards given the exponential increase of cellphone connections in the
Valley - there are an estimated 12 lakh post-paid subscribers alone.
A Bharti Airtel spokesperson insisted that
the firm strictly follows regulations. "We are fully committed to the
subscriber verification process. We have always complied with the rules and
regulations that govern the industry and will continue to do so,'' the spokesperson
said.
Airtel officials said they issue a SIM card
- both pre-paid and post-paid - only after the subscriber complies with all
requisite formalities: furnishing details of the subscriber, a recent photograph
and proof of residence. Subsequently the field staff conduct physical verification
besides vetting the documents. Sources said that if the subscriber is a Defence
personnel, the connection is issued only after he furnishes the authority
letter of the Commanding officer of his unit.
Before the Baramulla blast, the police had
successfully detected a cell-phone-triggered car bomb in Srinagar. This had
led to blanket freezing of mobile signals across Srinagar on the eve of Independence
Day.
majid.jahangir@expressindia.com
