Two arrested for giving SIM card to jailed bureaucrat

June 15, 2011 | Accident / Crime / Disaster | Written by

Gandhinagar, June 15: Two men were arrested Wednesday on charges of providing a mobile phone SIM card to suspended Gujarat bureaucrat Pradeep Sharma, who is in a Bhuj jail facing corruption charges.

The police recovered a mobile phone and a charger from Sharma’s prison cell.

According to the police, Mema Chavda and his nephew Vikas Chavda gave the SIM card to Sharma June 6 while he was present in the court.

Chavda, who is lodged in the same jail facing a murder charge, had asked his nephew to buy him the SIM card, said the police.

Sharma, an Indian Administrative Service officer and former district collector of Kutch, has been lodged in jail on charges of corruption and misuse of power in a land deal.

The crime investigation department (CID) of the state police Tuesday filed an application before a local court, seeking its permission to conduct DNA test on Sharma.

The police contend that if Sharma is granted bail he may leave the country and hence his identity has to be recorded through a DNA test.

IANS