The Department of Telecom recently initiated a move to curb SIM cards in mobile phones, but it came a bit too late because gangland had given up its mobiles and begun dialling satellite phones quite some time ago. A senior police officer said a majority of phone numbers given by non-resident dons to their victims in Mumbai's recent extortion spree were 14-digit satellite phone numbers.

The satellite phone is a briefcase-shaped device with its flap serving as an antennae. Unlike a mobile phone, a satellite phone is independent of land links and is hooked onto a network of satellites covering the globe. This allows the caller to place phone calls anywhere in the world. The instrument costs more than Rs 1 lakh, which is peanuts in comparison with the crores of extortion money demanded over it.

A majority of this year'sapproximately 400 extortion-related phone calls in Mumbai could have been made via satellite phones from gangsters based in Kathmandu, Malaysia, Dubai and Karachi.

``Getting to the cellular phone numbers was comparatively easy,'' said a crime branch officer. ``Most of the numbers used by members of the underworld were identified and deactivated after police officials approached the service-providing companies. But with satellite telephones it may not be easy,'' the officer pointed out.

Sources in the intelligence agencies disclosed that the underworld dons were alarmed about their vulnerability after the US used sophisticated tracking devices to pinpoint terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden's Inmarsat satellite phone to an accuracy of 10 meters and unleashed a cruise missile attack on his hideout.

However, the police have no such technology at their disposal. Nor are they able to approach the phone companies, all of whom are based abroad. And the skies are getting a bit crowded too. ``The imminent arrivalof four new satellite phone companies next year could add to our worries,'' said a senior Mumbai police official.

And as top-ranking members of the underworld switch over to satellite telephones, their lesser-known counterparts in the city have been on a shopping binge, collecting SIM cards before the Ministry of Telecommunications' notice that makes it mandatory for a buyer to produce proof of his identity comes into effect. Investigations have revealed that some shopowners are even willing to arrange for the identity proof. ``It will cost a little more for the effort,'' a shopkeeper told this reporter.