Cell phone crime goes unabated

Extortion and threat to high profile people using cell phones is going unabated as law enforcers could hardly trace the criminals who manage their SIM cards without following proper registration procedure.
Sources observe that the menace has reached an intolerable level as even Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her nephew lawmaker Fazle Noor Taposh could not escape such threats issued recently by the criminals.
However, following threats issued from a newly registered cell phone number, Rab and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in a joint drive arrested three cell phone distributors–Lokman Hossain, Rafiqul Islam alias Miraj, Shafiqul Islam alias Ranju on Thursday.
The callers and the sellers of the RUIM (removable user identity module) card are still remaining out of the dragnet due to fake registration, sources said.
Rab sources said they are trying to nab the callers but tracing them is difficult as the RUIM card was reached to the subscriber after passing three steps–dealers, sub-dealers and retailers.
Various gangs are also demanding hefty amounts from government high-ups, businessmen and wealthy people using such SIM (subscriber identity module) or RUIM cards. If anyone does not want to meet their demands, the criminals threaten to kill them or abduct their children.
Moreover, SIMs which are sold without any registration or by providing fake information are also being used for issuing threats for personal vengeance or teasing girls. In many cases criminals use photographs of other people to get the registration, said law enforcers.
Rab alone receives 70 such complaints on an average every day sources said adding that police also receive a good number of such complaints.
“We fail to trace offenders in ninety percent cases due to their fake registration,” said a top Rab official wishing anonymity.
A retailer who sells SIMs of different mobile operators in Mirpur area said in many cases buyers express unwillingness to provide necessary documents including photographs. “In that case we fill in the registration form attaching photographs of another person,” he said adding a section of traders in the city’s Nilkhet area sells photographs of people.
Director General of Rab Hassan Mahmood Khandkar said the registration process should be made flawless using modern technology to stop such threats and other criminal activities.
Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Shahidul Hoque said such criminal activities have marked a decline after they started a crackdown but such incidents marked a rise in the last week.
He said they have already placed the issue of faulty registration process before the law and order meeting of the home ministry. “We’re trying to stop such crime,” he said.
Director of Rab Intelligence Wing Ziaul Ahsan suggests activating SIM only after verifying information given in a registration with the database of National Identity Card project.

Courtesy of The Daily Star