Four detained for selling mobile phones with pre-activated SIM cards

In a drive to check crime in the district, police here detained four shopkeepers for selling second-hand mobile handsets with pre-activated SIM cards.

Around 900 mobile phones and pre-activated SIM cards for which the shopkeepers could not give any explanation were seized during the drive, police said.

SP Manish Mishra told PTI that with the arrest of several criminals, police had come to know that they were using second-hand mobile phones with pre-activated SIM cards registered in the name of other people.

Under the guidance of district police chief Sudhir Kumar Singh, a special drive was launched on Saturday during which around 100 shops were checked.

The shopkeepers used to purchase second-hand mobile phones at a throwaway price, Mishra said.

He said irregularities were detected regarding several mobile numbers on which no description was available.