Islamabad: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in coordination with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle, recently conducted a raid on a Mobilink franchise in Depalpur, District Okara, resulting in arrests and the seizure of illegal equipment. This raid comes amid reports of unlawful SIM card activations using the fingerprints of local women, misleadingly obtained under a social welfare program.

According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announcement issued on 23 August 2024, the operation targeted a Mobilink franchise accused of misusing fingerprints from poor female residents, purportedly collected for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to distribute rations but instead used to issue SIM cards without consent. During the raid, the FIA confiscated 25 suspicious SIM cards and two Biometric Verification System (BVS) devices, leading to the immediate arrest of the retailer. An FIR has been filed, and the FIA Cybercrime Circle is conducting further investigations into these allegations.

This crackdown is part of the PTA’s broader initiative to combat the illegal issuance of SIM cards, emphasizing the authority’s commitment to tackling this issue rigorously.