The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) made its ninth arrest in a fraudulent SIM card case on Wednesday. The accused,Shivkumar Hanumanta (23),is a vada pav seller from Dadar. The ATS claimed Hanumanta spent the better part of his day photocopying,on an average,10,000 copies of identification documents to be supplied to multiple distributors of various service providers. Three of the accused in the SIM card case have also been booked for their alleged involvement in the 13/7 Mumbai serial blasts case. Naqi Ahmed and Nadeem Akhtar were arrested by the ATS and Imran alias Yasin Bhatkal has been shown as a wanted. The ATS claimed the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen is believed to have used these fraudulently procured SIM cards for mobile connectivity. We have recovered 2,200 documents,which include photographs and identity proof, said Additional Director General of Police (ATS) Rakesh Maria. On the fresh arrest,he said,He (Hanumanta) would promise people from poor and middle class backgrounds talk time of Rs 40 at a discounted price of Rs 30. Hanumanta is an agent,like earlier arrested Ganesh Tikole,who collected profiles. According to the ATS,Hanumanta would sell the first set of SIM cards to genuine buyers in return for their identification documents that would include their ration card,passport or other such documents. The accused would then make multiple copies of such documents and sell it to distributors for service providers. So,you would have a genuine card,but the documents would be used multiple times to procure pre-paid SIM cards. We will get to the end of this. Nobody can deny anything in this case as its entirely documented and we have got all the papers. No verification of the papers and recipients was done, he added. On the terror trail probe,the ATS said the two bikes that were stolen by Ahmed and Akhtar in August and October were ferried to Darbhanga in the break van of a long-distance train. They had purchased two second hand bikes and sold it within 15 days. They then used the papers of the bikes and forged them against the stolen bikes. The number plates of the stolen bikes were changed accordingly, said Maria. Stating that it was part of a plan, Maria said the bikes meant for a specific purpose were in the meantime being used by the relatives of Ahmed and Akhtar in Darbhanga. The third accused named in the 13/7 blasts case,Haroon Hamid,will be taken into custody by the ATS this week. The legal procedure for the arrest has been completed,added Maria.
