On Tuesday we carried a story The Indian Obama: 21-yr-old and too lazy for a one-min pic, where a Nalgonda resident by the name of M Prasad secured a cellphone connection with the number 9177523297 by passing off the photograph of the US President as his. The story was originally carried in Times of India.
Reuters
According to reports, the local police reported the matter to their seniors as soon as they learnt of it and the phone connection was immediately disconnected.
However, Times of India today reported that Telecom service provider Airtel did not allot the telephone number 9177523297 that was said to have been procured by Prasad using Obama’s photograph to any subscriber.
Airtel issued a statement saying that the number has never been activated and is lying as an idle stock with its retail outlet. The letter was signed by V S VPrasad, the head of legal and regulatory functions of Airtel in the AP circle.
Bharti Airtel in its communication to Nalgonda SP also claimed that it has always given importance to the guidelines issued by the regulators/DoT on subscriber verification and have never compromised on the verification process.
