Chandigarh: Haryana Police’s cyber nodal agency has blocked 20,545 mobile numbers issued on fake and forged documents. Most of the blocked SIM cards were issued in Andhra Pradesh, followed by West Bengal and Delhi, among others.

Similarly, more than 34,000 mobile numbers involved in cyber fraud operating across the state including 40 hotspot villages of Nuh district have also been identified and reported on the portal. At the same time, the remaining 14,000 mobile numbers involved in cyber fraud will also be blocked soon through the Department of Telecom, Government of India.

Sharing the information here today, a police spokesperson informed that the State Crime Branch is currently monitoring all the mobile numbers involved in cybercrime and is taking reports from the districts in this regard on a daily basis. For this reason, at present, Haryana is at the top position in blocking mobile numbers used in cyber fraud.

At present more attention is being given to such areas and villages from where cyber fraud incidents are being carried out. Recently, 102 teams of 5000 policemen of Haryana Police raided 14 cyber crime hotspots villages in Nuh district.

The maximum number of mobile numbers involved in cyber crime has been issued from Andhra Pradesh and they are being operated in the state to commit cybercrime. Currently, out of the total identified mobile numbers issued on Fake ID, a maximum 12822 mobile numbers have been issued from Andhra Pradesh, 4365 from West Bengal, 4338 from Delhi, 2322 from Assam, 2261 from North East states and 2490 from Haryana state.

State Crime Branch Chief and Additional Director General of Police, OP Singh, informed that the state crime branch, as the state nodal agency for cybercrime, has a team of 40 highly skilled cyber police personnel who have been deployed at Helpline 1930 to promptly register reported incidents and collect relevant data.

The complaints of cyber fraud are immediately updated on the portal to block suspicious mobile numbers. The ill motives of cyber thugs are being thwarted by blocking these SIMs purchased on fake and forged documents. Haryana State Cyber Coordination Center has been established in the State Crime Branch as per the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to prevent cyber fraud, he said.

Hamid Akhtar, an IPS officer currently serving as DIG in the State Crime Branch, has been appointed as the nodal officer of this coordination centre. Haryana State Cyber Crime Coordination Center (H4C) has been established to create a database of cyber thugs in the state, to check their bank accounts, mobile numbers and to train police personnel to prevent cyber crime.

Giving further information, the police spokesperson said that instructions have been given to the Superintendents of Police of all the districts to inform the cyber nodal organization according to the proforma of the mobile numbers involved in cybercrime in the district so that all those numbers can be uploaded on the cybercrime portal. As soon as the mobile number is uploaded on the portal, the DoT blocks or deactivates that number. /BI/