12,437 SIM cards seized in Ahmedabad

"We raided the premises of SIM card vendors in the areas of Vatva and Isanpur, where we found that three vendors were in possession of unusual quantity of SIM cards. On further inquiry we found that they were selling the SIM cards on fake documents," said police inspector R R Sarvaiya.

"This is perhaps the biggest ever seizure of SIM cards in the country," he claimed.

"It came to our notice that some persons are using the sim cards, acquired through fake documents, for illegal purposes," Sarvaiya said.

Police have arrested Ramesh Bathia, Bahvin Soni and Sumit Patel, all residents of Ahmedabad, and the seizure, comprising the SIM cards and some electronic equipment, is estimated to worth Rs 1.80 lakh.

"We have seized SIM cards of almost all the mobile service providers operational in Gujarat besides a computer and a printer that were used to make fake documents from the trio," Sarvaiya said.

Investigations are on to find out from where the accused had procured such a huge quantity of SIM cards, he added.