30,000 non-bonafide mobile connections disconnected

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) identified nearly 30,000 non-bonafide mobile connections issued by the Telecom Service Providers (TSP) in Mumbai and eventually disconnected them.

The DoT Mumbai analysed the database of its subscibers and found similar images with different names. With a threshold of 50 or more subscribers in a group, there were a total of 8,247 subscribers identified in these 62 groups.

An official said there appears to be connivance between those selling SIM cards, especially those whose contribution of fake SIMs in a group is abnormally high, in issuing suspected fake SIMs.

It was found that in one of the case, 684 numbers were issued using the image of one person, said the official.

A total of six FIRs have been lodged so far.