61 arrested for using false info in SIM card sales

The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested 61 people for selling SIM cards with false information in the capital's Pallabi yesterday.

The arrestees include private mobile phone operator Banglalink's zonal manager Shah Md Abu Alamgir Siddique, MR Communication owner Mohiuddin Khan, and its manager Sarfuddin Ahmed. The remaining 58 are sales agents and staff of MR Communication, said Rab.

MR Communication is a private consultancy firm, which distributes Banglalink SIM cards and provides mobile internet services for customers of Mirpur, Shah Ali, Pallabi Darussalam and Rupnagar areas, according to Rab.

Md Ibrahim Khalil, additional superintendent of police of Rab-4, told The Daily Star that while investigating some recent complaints of threats, they found a mismatch between customers' information and their addresses. Later, it was found SIM distributors and sales representatives were using false information for selling new SIM cards, he said.

Based on information, Rab raided MR Communication's office and found its staff using false addresses, printing fake national ID cards, and attaching copies of them to SIM card registration forms, in presence of the Banglalink zonal manager, he said.

Khalil said the distribution agency gave targets to its sales agents to sell at least 8,000 SIM cards per month. In a hurry, the sales agents just took finger prints and the national ID numbers to activate the SIM cards and give them to customers but they did not take photos or other information.

Later, they used to fill a fake form and attach copies of fake national ID cards and photos with it, said Khalil. “Because of this, we did not find the customer addresses.”

A case was filed with Pallabi Police Station.

Asif Ahmed, head of Corporate Communications of Banglalink, in a statement, said, "We will further investigate when officially informed of this particular case. Banglalink is a compliant organisation guided by a strong code of conduct. Banglalink operates its business as per rules and regulations of the Bangladesh government. If any of the business partners is found to be involved in malpractice, we take immediate action."