61 held with fake Banglalink SIMs

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested 61 vendors of mobile phone operator Banglalink with a huge number of SIMs registered with fake documents.

An RAB-4 team arrested them in Dhaka’s Pallabi at 11.45pm on Wednesday.  The government’s biometric SIM verification move concluded last year. Senior ASP (RAB-4) Mujahidul Islam said: “The vendors have been arrested on charge of registering SIMs by violating telecommunication rules.” He also said the arrestees are employees of MR Communication, a retailer of Banglalink. It has been assigned to sell Banglalink SIMs in Dhaka’s Mirpur, Pallabi, Darus Salam, Shah Ali and Rupnagar thana areas.  Mujahidul Islam said they seized a huge number of SIM cards and photos from these vendors.
The elite force has unearthed the racket of issuing illegal SIMs, which are mostly used for telephone-related crimes. 
Jean-Yves Charlie, the chief executive of VimpelCom, the majority shareholder of Banglalink, is currently visiting Bangladesh.
RAB officials said the accused Banglalink vendors have been registering fake SIMs using the photos and national ID numbers of other people. They filled in the customers’ personal information forms with fake photos, data and national ID numbers, they added. A process is underway to file a case, the officials said.
Under the direct supervision of the Posts and Telecommunications Division, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) launched the biometric SIM verification exercise on December 16, 2015, for over 13 crore mobile phone users.  The job was completed in May last year after a five-month-long endeavour.
Immediately after the campaign ended, in September 2015, the BTRC seized 167 pre-activated SIMs and 24 illegally imported electronic and communication devices. Among the 167 pre-activated SIM cards, 100 were of Banglalink, 17 of Grameenphone, 26 of Airtel, and 24 of Robi. 
In July last year, police had seized many unregistered pre-activated SIMs in Chittagong. Police had also arrested seven SIM vendors in Dhaka’s Gulshan with pre-activated SIMs.
Meanwhile, Asif Ahmed, Head of Corporate Communications, Banglalink, in a statement said, “We will further investigate the matter when we will officially inform about 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 Bangladesh Government. If any of the Business Partner is found to be involved in malpractice, we take immediate action."

61 held with fake Banglalink SIMs

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested 61 vendors of mobile phone operator Banglalink with a huge number of SIMs registered with fake documents. An RAB-4 team arrested them in Dhakas Pallabi at 11.45pm on Wednesday. The governments biometric SIM verification move concluded last year. Senior ASP (RAB-4) Mujahidul Islam said: The vendors have been arrested on charge of registering SIMs by violating telecommunication rules. He also said the arrestees are employees of MR Communication, a retailer of Banglalink. It has been assigned to sell Banglalink SIMs in Dhakas Mirpur, Pallabi, Darus Salam, Shah Ali and Rupnagar thana areas. Mujahidul Islam said they seized a huge number of SIM cards and photos from these vendors. The elite force has unearthed the racket of issuing illegal SIMs, which are mostly used for telephone-related crimes. Jean-Yves Charlie, the chief executive of VimpelCom, the majority shareholder of Banglalink, is currently visiting Bangladesh. RAB officials said the accused Banglalink vendors have been registering fake SIMs using the photos and national ID numbers of other people. They filled in the customers personal information forms with fake photos, data and national ID numbers, they added. A process is underway to file a case, the officials said. Under the direct supervision of the Posts and Telecommunications Division, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) launched the biometric SIM verification exercise on December 16, 2015, for over 13 crore mobile phone users. The job was completed in May last year after a five-month-long endeavour. Immediately after the campaign ended, in September 2015, the BTRC seized 167 pre-activated SIMs and 24 illegally imported electronic and communication devices. Among the 167 pre-activated SIM cards, 100 were of Banglalink, 17 of Grameenphone, 26 of Airtel, and 24 of Robi. In July last year, police had seized many unregistered pre-activated SIMs in Chittagong. Police had also arrested seven SIM vendors in Dhakas Gulshan with pre-activated SIMs. Meanwhile, Asif Ahmed, Head of Corporate Communications, Banglalink, in a statement said, We will further investigate the matter when we will officially inform about 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 Bangladesh Government. If any of the Business Partner is found to be involved in malpractice, we take immediate action.