Abu Dhabi: Over the past few years, several naive and unsuspecting people have found themselves on the wrong side of the law over issues related to mobile phones.
This could have been the result of just buying a used mobile phone from an unauthorised dealer or of keeping a mobile phone they found some place.
Police arrested Mohammad Jeyel, a cleaning company worker, while he was at work. Not knowing the reason for his arrest, he spent a day in prison.
Jeyel, who hails from Bangladesh, has just been in the UAE for a year now and understands hardly any other language other than Bengali, his native tongue.
It was after repeated interrogation sessions by the police that he realised he was being questioned about a mobile phone theft case. Jeyel told the officials that he had no clue about the mobile phone but said that his roommate had once borrowed his SIM card to make a few calls.
Police then nabbed Jeyel's roommate Ahmad (name changed to protect identity), who had found the mobile phone at a parking lot.
By then Ahmad had sent his "accidental find" to his home country. It was the sponsor of the cleaning company, where Jeyel and Ahmad worked, who took the initiative in helping the two out.
In a similar case, N.A. got into trouble after he sold a mobile phone he purchased from a street vendor to an authorised shop.
"After selling the old phone and purchasing a new one, my brother went on vacation. When he returned he was caught at the airport and was jailed. Later we realised that the problem was the mobile phone we purchased from the street vendor was a stolen one," said Abdul Kalam, N.A.'s brother.
A court ordered a one-year jail term for N.A. followed by deportation. The case is currently sub judice.
Meanwhile, N.A.'s relatives have negotiated with the mobile shop owner, who lodged the complaint, to settle the case.
In another incident, A. Kader, an Indian, had to run from pillar to post for months before a mobile phone theft case in his name could be solved.
Kader said that his mobile phone, a popular American brand, was given to an authorised dealer for repair.
"The motherboard of the unit was changed by the dealer as part of the repairing process and I put my SIM card back and started using the phone again. But soon I received a call from the police saying that I have in my possession a stolen mobile," he claims.
The court rejected the case against him, he said, adding that he still does not know how this happened.
Ignorance
"Hundreds of such cases come to us," said an official at the Sharia Court, who did not wish to be named.
Ignorance of the law landed these people in trouble, he said, adding that media should initiate an awareness campaign to educate the public about the dangers of buying a mobile phone from an unauthorised dealer.
"Mobile phone units can be identified using the unique serial numbers when they are used to make a call. Also the SIM cards which carry the details of the owner can easily be traced. Hence, buying a phone without asking for proof of identification of the seller would be like owning up to the deeds of the seller," he said.
In such cases, the authorities are not to blame, he said. "Consider that the seller had stolen the phone or he was a fraudster. Though eventually the truth will be unearthed by the police, innocent people would have to spend time in prison."
Certain cases arise because of people who accidentally lose their mobiles and lodge a complaint at the police station as though it was stolen just to ensure they receive the insurance money.
"This means, if you find a lost mobile the best thing to do would be to return it to the nearest police station, rather than deciding to use it." It is equally dangerous to lend your SIM card to someone or even to allow a stranger to use his SIM card on your mobile phone. "One is responsible for one's own belongings. If any misuse occurs, then one cannot run from the responsibility," the court official said.
In most cases the penalties involve few months to a year in jail followed by deportation.
Reference: http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Police_and_The_Courts/10152371.html