KARACHI, Sept 2: The federal government has allowed police to access cellular phone calls and short messaging service (SMS) data while investigating criminal cases through the telecom regulator rather than depend on intelligence agencies, which sometimes take up a lot of time to proceed the requests of the law enforcers.

Senior officials and sources privy to a recent meeting held in Islamabad said the decision came after the issue was raised by the police chiefs of the provinces, which led to a decision that the investigators could approach the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to access the subscribers’ data available with any cellular company for investigation.

“The PTA will appoint a focal person to deal with the police in line with the recent proposal,” said a source close to the decisions taken to enhance investigation within the minimum possible time.

“The police authorities will also assign some of their senior officers in this regard to be in touch with the PTA for such a facility.”

He said the decision had been taken considering delays in acquiring such data through the federal intelligence agencies, which not only delayed the process but also made it complicated for the law-enforcement agencies, causing the latter sometimes to give up such efforts.

“Currently the police have no authority to obtain phone call or SMS data from the service provider and must navigate a cumbersome and time-consuming process to access information. Often the data is received at a very late stage of the investigation,” he said.

With the new rules in place, the source added, a marked difference was likely to be witnessed in different cases of investigation.

With the widespread use of mobile phone technology, the analysis of cellular phone communication data had become a significant component of police investigation procedures and constitutes an expansion of the traditional methods of cracking cases.

Like other areas of life, records of police investigations show that the use of cellular communication has become an integral part of criminals engaged in different activities. The security agencies have already identified more than seven million subscribers who have acquired connections on fake personal details, which makes the investigators’ job more difficult.

The Senate’s Standing Committee on the Interior had recently announced that all the five cellular companies operating in the country had blocked as many as 7.1 million non-verified SIMs (subscriber identity modules) that were obtained before May 1. The senate body also asked the PTA to complete the verification of SIMs obtained from May 1 to Sept 30 and come up with a report before the legislators.

Apart from reaching the unverified connections, the police officials find themselves helpless in obtaining the data of communications through suspects’ or their accomplices’ cellphones even while investigating high-profile cases. However, a top official appeared optimistic that with fresh arrangements, what he said became effective hardly a week back, the performance of the law-enforcement agencies would improve perceptibly.

“While tracking the cellphone record of a particular subscriber, there are some issues of protocol, which are needed to be followed by the police,” said Sultan Salahuddin Babar Khattak, IG of Sindh. “The police are required to follow rules which are no more valid as we have been privileged to access the data through the PTA.”

He said the PTA and police authorities would now coordinate for such requirements, meant to improve the methods of investigation and reach the desired results in minimum time.

“This facility doesn’t mean that any SHO (station house officer) or other officer will go to the PTA in the name of police and get the required data, but there will be properly defined rules on both sides to share such an analysis,” said Mr Khattak.