Mumbai: Ghatkopar police recover 165 lost and stolen phones

A woman receives her phone from Ghatkopar police on Tuesday. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The Ghatkopar police on Tuesday returned 165 recovered mobile phones to their owners. The mobiles were either stolen or lost. The Ghatkopar police have arrested 25 people for stealing phones this year.

The police used the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal - set up by the Department of Telecommunications, union Ministry of Communications - to track the missing phones. The CEIR portal helps citizens track phones and block the number in use on a stolen phone.

"I lost my phone in December 2022. I was terribly worried as it had my data and photos. I informed the police then that I lost my phone. It was a long wait but the police got my phone back. Throughout the process, the police had a positive attitude and were cooperative," said Rajesh Padekar, 33.

Police Inspector (PI) Deepali Kulkarni, Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Rafique Mujawar, PSI Dyaneshwar Kharmate and PSI Padmakar Patil worked on recovering the phones under the guidance of Ghatkopar senior PI Balwant Deshmukh.

"Distressed people reach out to us when they lose their phones. With the help of the CEIR portal, we could trace the phones. We also use other technologies to help us. Since January, we have apprehended 25 people for stealing phones. However, we suspect that the number will increase," said an officer.

The police did not face difficulties in determining the owners of the phones as they had approached the police to register complaints. "We worked hard to trace the 165 phones. Registered complaints on the CEIR portal and IMEI numbers help us trace the phones successfully," the officer said.

25
People arrested for stealing phones