AHMEDABAD: After the CID (crime) arrested five people for selling sim cards on forged Aadhaar documents, it has been determined that nearly 3,000 sim cards were sold illegally across the state since 2020.
The initial arrests had been made based on a tipoff from the department of telecommunications (DoT). Sources in police said that the sim cards were issued on forged documents in places such as Kapadvanj, Nadiad, Surat, and Morbi. The sources said it is possible that these sim cards were used by con call centres.
A CID (crime) officer said that 1,500 Aadhaar numbers which do not exist were used to issue the sim cards. The rest of the sim cards were issued on doctored documents — the pictures of the customers were the same in many Aadhaar cards.
The cops swung into action after DoT Gujarat officers told them that a racket of selling sim cards on forged Aadhaar cards was prevalent in Gir-Somnath district.
The cops raided the shop of Menasi Barad, a resident of Chaduvav village near Veraval of Gir-Somanth, and nabbed him along with Faraz Kabirani, Yogesh Chhatrodia, Paresh Solanki, and Piyush Solanki. They have apparently sold 297 sim cards illegally.
The CID (crime) had earlier booked the five persons caught from Gir-Somnath under the charges of cheating and forgery. The Information Technology Act had also been invoked.
The accused had initially said that they were selling the sim cards to get more commission from telecom companies. The commission on sim cards varies from Rs 200 to Rs 800 depending on the plan taken by the customer. But as the investigation progressed and call details were examined, it emerged that many of the sim cards were used by con callers.
