KARACHI, Jan 23: Three franchise dealers of two mobile phone companies were picked up by the Anti-Violence Crime Cell late Sunday night for selling mobile phone connections without verification.

Six connections among those sold by the dealers were used in three cases of kidnapping for ransom, an official said, and added that the connections were sold by Shaikh Khalid Hussain in Jamshed Quarters and Syed Abdul Karim in Quaidabad.

The police contacted the two franchise dealers for seeking the record of cellphone numbers but they did not have the proper record, officials said. It transpired that the franchise dealers had not collected proper information and the addresses given for new connections in question were fake.

The police picked up Shaikh Khalid and Abdul Karim for abetment in the kidnapping for ransom cases. Karim told the police that Shaikh Khurram Rehman was the franchise dealer and he had sublet the dealership to him. The police picked up Shaikh Khurram and associated him with the investigation.

Some franchise dealers in the metropolis condemned the police action against franchise dealers and claimed that it was an act of harassment. They observed a token shutdown of their business on Monday.