January 09, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 29, 1428

PESHAWAR, Jan 8: The government has failed to stop unregistered connections being given by cellular companies in the country. The practice is continuing unchecked and being exploited by terrorists and gangsters.

According to a survey, the number of unregistered connections is fast increasing.

Although the government has bound the cellular phone companies to issue new connections only after getting copies of the national identity cards and two land lines as references, new connections are being given freely.

In several markets of Peshawar, teenagers are seen selling Sims of different cellular companies without getting CNIC copies from buyers.

The crimes have taken a new shape. Callers who introduce themselves to be representatives of cellular phone companies lure people by making fake offers to them. Ahmed, a resident of Corporation Colony, told Dawn that a caller identifying himself as an officer of a cellular company asked him to pay Rs8,500 as easy-load and he would be awarded a prize of Rs700,000.

“I am a poor daily wager, but I managed to collect the money and transferred paid it into the caller’s account,” he said, adding that after the easy-load the caller’s number never responded.

One Hidayat said he also paid Rs3,000 in response to a similar offer, but he was never given the promised prize of Rs500,000.

Two other people working for an English newspaper also said that they were contacted by a caller from cell No: 0308-3548041 identifying himself as Mohammad Saleem son of Mohammad Raza from Lahore.

The caller informed them that they had won a prize of 50,000 and were asked to pay Rs1,500 as tax for getting the cheque, but fortunately they did not fall prey to the fraud.

“We went to a franchise of the concerned company and informed its officials, but they told us that the number had been given without fulfilling the requirements,” they added.