A trader in Balurghat replaces his Indian SIM with a Grameen card. Picture by Ramen Mondal

Balurghat, Dec. 4: The BSF is worried about a Bangladeshi mobile network active on this side of the border and has issued an alert that it may be a cause of serious security concern.

Besides, the government is losing out on revenue, for calls to Bangladesh, which otherwise would have been ISD, are being charged at local rates.

The deputy inspector-general of the BSF (Malda range) Probhat Singh Tomar said he had forwarded the alert on Grameen Phone, a popular mobile service network in Bangladesh, to his higher authorities.

Tomar has asked for jammers even as the South Dinajpur district police have appealed to local mobile service providers to conduct thorough identity checks of the buyers before giving SIMs.

“The matter (concerning Grameen Phone) is now under consideration of the department of telecommunication. A team from the ministry had recently travelled along the border with Bangladesh for an on-the-spot study of the situation,” Tomar said.

The BSF official said he has urged the inspector-general of the border force’s headquarters in Calcutta to expedite the process of introducing jammers to deactivate the Bangladeshi mobile network on Indian territory.

Grameen has been running brisk business in this border district for the past few years. Residents of Hili, Trimohini, Teor — areas along the border — avail of Grameen network to make calls to Bangladesh at local charges. Grameen SIM cards are sold clandestinely in many shops in South Dinajpur, even in Dangi which is 5km from here.

Recharge coupons of Taka 10, Taka 50, Taka 100, even Taka 300, are smuggled in. Sometimes recharges are made over the phone too. “Just a phone call to a person known to the Grameen user here is enough to get the account recharged,” an intelligence officer said. But an exporter who uses Grameen said recharge coupons were hassle-free. “You don’t have to depend on anybody or to work out a way to reach the money,” he said.

Candles lit in Cooch Behar on Thursday in memory of the victims of the Mumbai terror attacks. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

While an ISD to Bangladesh is Rs 11 for one minute, a Grameen-to-Grameen call is 25 paise.

“As a result, the Indian government is losing out on revenue. Not only that, Grameen is being used by smugglers and other criminals. Frequent international calls may be noticed, but not local calls through a foreign service provider whose records cannot be got hold of immediately,” the intelligence official said.

Subdivisional telecom officer Nitin Sarkar said: “It is our responsibility to ensure that our network does not clash with that of Bangladesh. But it is the responsibility of the defence ministry to see that the signals of the neighbouring country do not flow into our territory.”

The additional district superintendent of police of South Dinajpur, Imran Wahab, had yesterday met the agents of mobile phone companies operating in the district. “We have asked them to verify the residential documents thoroughly before giving connections,” said Wahab.