Patna, Jun 29 (IANS): In a bid to curb cyber crime, around 3,500 suspicious SIM cards were blocked by cellular operator companies following recommendation by the Economic Offence Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, an official said.

Nayyer Hasnain Khan, the ADGP of Bihar Police said the department identified around 8,000 SIM cards used in fraudulent activities by cyber conmen in and outside Bihar.

"The department had recommended to the central telecom ministry to block those SIM cards. It has further recommended to different cellular service providers companies for the same. Around 3,500 were blocked while the process is on to do the same in the remaining 4,500 SIM cards," Khan said.

The EOU of Bihar Police received complaints about cyber frauds. During investigation, it surfaced that the SIM cards were obtained with fake names and addresses. These were used to dupe people in Bihar as well as in other states. The department has been asking the SIM card distributors to sell them only to genuine customers after proper verification.

Bihar has several places like Nawava, Nalanda, Aurangabad, Sheikhpura, Jamui where a large number of cyber conmen are active. They work like the Jamtara module of cyber fraud and dupe people across the country.