Lewd calls and obscene text messages sent to the women's helpline of the city police has brought another menace to the fore ' that of impersonation.
While tracking the source of lewd calls, investigations have detected that people procure SIM cards furnishing forged documents.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amrit Raj told The Telegraph: "Investigations in some cases have revealed that many vendors don't care about checking the subscriber's documents while selling SIM cards. Sometimes, people don't even furnish any document. Such vendors were usually let off with a warning. Police will take strict legal action against such erring vendors and subscribers furnishing false documents."
He added that the police were in talks with the nodal officers of different telecom companies.
"The companies would co-nduct verification to track the culprits," the officer said.
Sources said the women police personnel taking the call on the helpline lodged a slew of complaints about pra-nk calls and lewd messages.
"Some investigations had been carried out in the matter. The persons, who owned the SIM cards, were called up and quizzed about their details. A majority of them denied making any such call. Probe revealed that the documents submitted to the particular telecom company for procuring the SIM cards were forged. Generally, people have to submit their address proof, a passport-size photograph and a photo identity to procure a SIM card. This proves that norms are not followed while selling the SIM cards. This problem needs to be dealt with strictly," another police officer told The Telegraph.
The police said the number of small kiosks selling SIM cards had decreased in the state capital.
"Earlier, there were a lot of kiosks selling SIM cards. But last year, the police acted tough on them and the numbers decreased. Telecom company seniors set target for their sales representatives. Investigations proved that the application forms got pictures, telephone numbers of different people for a single SIM card. There is also a system of residence verification but it is never carried out," the officer said.
Sources said once a SIM card is sold, the customer's verification is supposed to be carried out within three working days.
"If a problem is detected during verification, the companies disconnect the SIM card. But then, three days is a lot of time for the miscreants to misuse the connection. Proper legal action will ensure that the same is reduced," the officer said.