12.28 lakh SIMs left Dhaka on Apr 18

People with some 12.28 lakh mobile connections left Dhaka on April 18, the last day of work before the start of holidays for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

However, people with 6.67 lakh SIMs entered Dhaka on the same day.

Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar disclosed the information at a post on his verified Facebook account today.

"I have collected data from the mobile operators. I think people started leaving Dhaka on a big scale since April 17," Jabbar told The Daily Star.

However, it couldn't be determined how many people exactly left or entered Dhaka with the figures, as a person can have multiple SIMs, the minister said.

"A person can use as many as 15 mobile connections. But on an average, each people have 1.5 SIMs."

Out of the 18 crore SIM users in circulation, 12 crore are unique mobile users, he said.

On the other hand, there are millions of children, elderly and poor people who have no handsets, according to the industrypeople.