Service providers under scanner in Meghalaya

FROM OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG, Jan 23: Mobile service providers in the Northeastern region will have to face legal proceedings to explain the procurement of mass SIM cards that have been landing in the hands of the militants operating in Meghalaya. The development comes after the North Garo Hills police recovered 82 active SIM cards from a busted Garo tiol Liberation Army (GNLA) camp on Friday.

The SIM cards were used by the GNLA cadres to communicating amongst themselves in the spate of modus operandi in the past couple of months.

Meghalaya police spokesman GHP Raju confided that the recovery of the SIM cards indicated that the mobile services providers have not complied with the Meghalaya High Court order of November 2015. But that is not a mere grievance for the police as they have prepared to verify the Subscriber Data Record (SDR) before taking all legal procedures against the erring private mobile service providers.

“The process is on and it is expected that the formalities will e completed in two or three days time,” stated another well placed source during an interaction with The Sentinel on Saturday. “10 per cent of these SIM card used by the militants comes from galand and Manipur and 10 per cent are from Assam,” stated the source.

He also made it clear that the Meghalaya police will initiate action against the service providers should they err in the procedures.

It may be mentioned that this is not the first time that SIM cards emating from Manipur and galand were recovered from the Garo Hills based militant groups.