State Minister Tarana gets threat call over re-registration of mobile-phone SIM cards

Tarana Halim, Minister of State for Post and Telecommunications, has said she received a threat call over a drive against unregistered SIM cards.

She told bdnews24.com on Friday that the telephone call was made at her office on Wednesday. It was a male voice, she said.

“I was told to go slow on banning the use of illegal VoIP and SIMs.

“I said ‘who are you to tell me whether I should go slow or fast? Do you think I will act according

to your dictates?’ The caller did not reveal his identity.”

The minister was unable to give any idea of who the caller might be but said: “He sounded quite sophisticated, quite unlike someone rustic.”

There were only two calls that day on the green phone in her office. “I know one of the callers personally. The other number was unfamiliar,” she said.

Tarana Halim, who became the state minister only three months ago, has informed RAB of the threat call but had not yet lodged a complaint with police.

When asked about the matter, RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan said: “We have learnt about it. RAB is trying to identify those who made the threat call.”

Halim told bdnews24.com she had earlier received threat calls claiming to be from Ansarullah Bangla Team, Hizb-ut Tawhid and others.

“I have never backtracked in the face of threats. Militants had threatened me before. Threats won’t stop my work.

“Threats have a spurring effect on me. The speed of work increases. One feels a strong urge to finish a work. SIM scrutiny will continue.

The re-registration of SIMs is hurting drug dealers and militants. A drive to identify unregistered SIMs would begin from Monday.