By NNN-PTI
New Delhi : In the wake of reports that mobile phones were used to trigger the blasts in Hyderabad and Ajmer, the Union Home Ministry is working on stringent guidelines to prevent misuse of SIM cards for terror attacks.
The MHA is working on a fresh set of rules to be adhered to by the mobile service providers on whether the SIM cards were in the hands of genuine users, sources said today.
While there is already a provision to verify the residential proof of those purchasing SIM cards, the focus will now be on post-sale verification of the connections, they said.
According to sources, Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta would soon meet Telecom Secretary D S Mathur for a detailed discussion on the issue so that the Department of Telecom could pass on necessary security guidelines to the service providers.
In the recent terror attacks caused by mobile phones at Mecca Mosque in Hyderabad and Dargah Sharif in Ajmer, SIM cards bore fictitious name – Babulal Yadav – and the photograph in the application form turned out to be of someone else.
Reports said that as many as five SIM cards were obtained from Malda in West Bengal by terrorists under fictitious identities before the Hyderabad and Ajmer blasts.