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26. The investigation suggests that the said mobile number slip was assigned to Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma (PW-229). This was a mobile number on the basis of the cash card. At the relevant point of time, the cash card implied a SIM card, a SIM card loaded with prepaid value and such SIM card were readily available in the open market. There was no necessity of registering with the service provide for obtaining a mobile connection through cash card. All that was required was activation by the service provider without which the cash card or the SIM card as the case may be could not be used.

27. It has come in the evidence that the active mobile phone has two components i.e. the mobile instrument and the SIM card. Every mobile instrument has a unique identification number, namely, Instrument Manufactured Equipment Identity, for short, IMEI number. Such SIM card could be provided by the service providers either with cash card or post paid card to the subscriber and once this SIM card is activated the number is generated which is commonly known as mobile number. The mobile service is operated through a main server computer called mobile switching centre which handles and records each and every movement of an active mobile phone like day and time of the call, duration of the call, calling and the called number, location of the subscriber during active call and the unique IMEI number of the instrument used by the subscriber during an active call. This mobile switching centre manages all this through various sub-systems or sub-stations and finally with the help of telephone towers. These towers are actually Base Trans-receiver Stations also known as BTS. Such BTS covers a set of cells each of them identified by a unique cell ID. A mobile continuously selects a cell and exchanges data and signaling traffic with the corresponding BTC. Therefore, through a cell ID the location of the active mobile instrument can be approximated.

35. Ms. Jaiswal also argued that the investigating agency had seized only the mobile instrument bearing No.9811278510 but not the SIM card and that was an extremely suspicious circumstance. It is to be noted in this behalf that the instrument was seized in the morning of 26.12.2000. The analysis of the telephone calls shows that the above mentioned number did not work after 16.50 hours on 23.12.2000. Thus this number was inactive on 24th and 25th December. Ms. Jaiswal argued that the phone might have been sold or at least would have changed hands and did not directly connect the appellant with the call made to the BBC correspondent immediately after the attack. In this behalf, learned Solicitor General relied on the evidence of Rajiv Pandit (PW-198). He pointed out that the record regarding the SIM No 0006680375 did not exist. Learned Solicitor General further argued that the letter dated 20.2.2001 of the police Exhibit PW-114/XV clearly showed that the said SIM was activated and an application in that behalf also made before the Court to un-seal the case property so as to examine whether the SIM card number was correctly noted in the seizure memo Exhibit PW-59/XIV or not. It has to be seen that the number of cash card and the one found on the SIM vide Exhibit PW-62/XIV were the same. The learned Solicitor General, therefore, argued that the SIM card found in the telephone was not activated and, therefore, there was no record available. However, according to the Solicitor General, it has been proved that the instrument number 4491713405451240 was on the cell phone recovered from the appellant. In that behalf, reliance was placed on the evidence of S.I. Harender Singh (PW-194), SI Zile Singh (PW-148) and Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma (PW-229). From this, according to the learned Solicitor General, the prosecution had established that but for the mobile number which was collected on the basis of the chit, it was not possible to apprehend the appellant at all. He further argued that the very same instrument which has been recovered from the appellant was used for calling BBC correspondent immediately after the attack and it was also argued that the location of the instrument at that time was in the vicinity of Red Fort. There is considerable force in the submission made by the learned Solicitor General. The depositions of the prosecution witnesses mentioned above, in our opinion, leave no doubt whatsoever in our minds that mobile number 9811278510 was used in the instrument having IMEI No.449173405451240 immediately after the attack.