Sim Card Racket

Police in Meghalaya recently busted a massive mobile phone SIM card racket spread across Manipur and Nagaland as well, based on a disclosure of a top arrested militant leader. The racket was unearthed at Tura, the district headquarters of West Garo Hills, following the disclosure to the police by Novembirth Ch Marak, a top Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) militant leader.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Bobby Momin said that according to Novembirth, the mobile phone agents operating in Tura arranged for pre-paid SIM cards from Nagaland and Manipur. “They bring registered pre-paid SIM cards from Dimapur and Manipur and sell them to people, violating all telecom norms,” Momin said. The GNLA, which is fighting for a ’sovereign Garoland’ in the western areas of Meghalaya, is headed by Champion R. Sangma, a policeman-turned-rogue. It had demanded extortion money from various people through mobile text messages ranging from Rs.5 lakh to Rs.1 crore using these SIM cards.