Islamabad, 12 Oct 2023:In a concerted operation, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Zonal Office, Lahore, alongside the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle, executed a successful raid against a franchisee of a mobile phone company located in Sialkot, apprehending two individuals and seizing materials related to the illegal issuance of SIMs, as per a press release from PTA.
The targeted franchisee was found to be implicated in the unlawful issuance of SIM cards. During the operation, officials confiscated 09 Biometric Verification System (BVS) devices and 33 SIMs, which will serve as evidence in the ongoing investigation. The FIA has taken two persons into custody from the premises and is probing the matter further. Prior to the raid, PTA had lodged complaints with the FIA, citing information concerning the illicit issuance of SIMs by the sales channel.
This latest raid comes as part of PTA’s continual efforts to obstruct attempts to bypass the Multi-Finger Biometric Verification System (MBVS) and underscores the Authority’s unwavering commitment to extinguishing the unauthorized and illegal issuance of SIMs across the nation.