PESHAWAR - Despite repeated incidents of extortion using Afghan roaming Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM), the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led provincial government and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority have failed to block these unregistered SIMs to avert the mounting cases of extortion in Peshawar.
In the last one year several innocent people were targeted by unidentified extortionists and their houses in the city blown up either by criminals or terrorists belonging to banned outfits. But, the incidents involving these illegal SIMs are increasing with each passing day and traders and businessmen are feeling a sense of insecurity. They say their lives and business are at risk. It is a new technique to use Afghan roaming service for committing any crime by just threatening anybody using an unknown number.
It is not difficult for Pakistan government to block signals of these SIMs as it has already been done near Indian border on the East. Despite the clear directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the PTA officials have not taken effective measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to block use of these illegal roaming service of Afghan SIMs.
The rising rate of violence related to extortion in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has triggered an exodus of businessmen and industrialists who are fleeing Peshawar to safer places thus rendering thousands of other people related to their business jobless. According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry around 150 professionals have left the province due to the fear of extortionists and threatening calls demanding for money by using these unregistered SIMs.
Talking to The Nation Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Najeebur Rahman Baghwe said 171 cases of extortion had been registered in the province out of which 125 cases were traced out and 90 of them were resolved while rest of the cases are still under investigation. He said police had also arrested 125 offenders in this connection. He said members of defunct organisations were found involved in 65 percent of extortion cases who carried out their activities through these SIMs.
Najeeb said the arrested people have been identified as Afghan refugees and other low level criminals while several of their other accomplices would soon be arrested.
Najeeb added that police department had contacted the government for taking steps to block Afghan SIMs in Pakistani limits but so far no action had been taken.
He said they had also contacted federal government through home department but they were not willing to interfere in the affairs of KP police. He said it was PTA’s responsibility to follow directives of interior ministry and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for blocking these unregistered Afghan SIMs which had become a tool of committing crime in the province. He said the PTA was just using delaying tactics in this regard.
He made it clear that Pakistan had no agreement with Afghanistan regarding roaming service while certain companies were illegally operating in the province which needed strict action.
It is pertinent to mention here that in previous year, police and FIA had recovered around 17,000 Afghan SIMs after a raid on an illegal telecom center run by Afghan refugees in Peshawar. The confiscated SIMs belonged to Multinational Telecommunication Group and Roshan cellular networks which had roaming facility agreements with Ufone and Zong without permission of the government.
These people had been living in Pakistan for a long time and were involved in the business of illegal Afghan SIMs for the past two years and they had created an international gateway for phone calls inflicting millions of rupees losses on the national exchequer, besides posing serious security threats.
Certain groups are still engaged in this illegal business and operating it secretly in the provincial metropolis as Afghan refugees have sufficient stock of these SIMs. It is, however, responsibility of the police to trace out such elements and hold them accountable for their deeds in the court of law.
In the last one year several innocent people were targeted by unidentified extortionists and their houses in the city blown up either by criminals or terrorists belonging to banned outfits. But, the incidents involving these illegal SIMs are increasing with each passing day and traders and businessmen are feeling a sense of insecurity. They say their lives and business are at risk. It is a new technique to use Afghan roaming service for committing any crime by just threatening anybody using an unknown number.
It is not difficult for Pakistan government to block signals of these SIMs as it has already been done near Indian border on the East. Despite the clear directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the PTA officials have not taken effective measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to block use of these illegal roaming service of Afghan SIMs.
The rising rate of violence related to extortion in the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has triggered an exodus of businessmen and industrialists who are fleeing Peshawar to safer places thus rendering thousands of other people related to their business jobless. According to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry around 150 professionals have left the province due to the fear of extortionists and threatening calls demanding for money by using these unregistered SIMs.
Talking to The Nation Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Najeebur Rahman Baghwe said 171 cases of extortion had been registered in the province out of which 125 cases were traced out and 90 of them were resolved while rest of the cases are still under investigation. He said police had also arrested 125 offenders in this connection. He said members of defunct organisations were found involved in 65 percent of extortion cases who carried out their activities through these SIMs.
Najeeb said the arrested people have been identified as Afghan refugees and other low level criminals while several of their other accomplices would soon be arrested.
Najeeb added that police department had contacted the government for taking steps to block Afghan SIMs in Pakistani limits but so far no action had been taken.
He said they had also contacted federal government through home department but they were not willing to interfere in the affairs of KP police. He said it was PTA’s responsibility to follow directives of interior ministry and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for blocking these unregistered Afghan SIMs which had become a tool of committing crime in the province. He said the PTA was just using delaying tactics in this regard.
He made it clear that Pakistan had no agreement with Afghanistan regarding roaming service while certain companies were illegally operating in the province which needed strict action.
It is pertinent to mention here that in previous year, police and FIA had recovered around 17,000 Afghan SIMs after a raid on an illegal telecom center run by Afghan refugees in Peshawar. The confiscated SIMs belonged to Multinational Telecommunication Group and Roshan cellular networks which had roaming facility agreements with Ufone and Zong without permission of the government.
These people had been living in Pakistan for a long time and were involved in the business of illegal Afghan SIMs for the past two years and they had created an international gateway for phone calls inflicting millions of rupees losses on the national exchequer, besides posing serious security threats.
Certain groups are still engaged in this illegal business and operating it secretly in the provincial metropolis as Afghan refugees have sufficient stock of these SIMs. It is, however, responsibility of the police to trace out such elements and hold them accountable for their deeds in the court of law.
