Mumbai Police Recover Over 1,100 Stolen Mobile Phones Using Central Equipment Identity Registry

Strategic Insights -

With the increasing number of mobile phone thefts in the city, the Mumbai Police has been using the Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR) to track down and recover stolen phones. Thanks to this initiative, the police have been able to recover over 1,100 mobile phones since 2023, with a significant portion of them being returned to their rightful owners. The CEIR, an initiative of the Department of Telecommunications, has made it possible for the police to track down phones even after they have been sold or transferred to other locations.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Mumbai Police has recovered over 1,100 mobile phones since 2023 using the Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR)
  • The CEIR has made it possible for the police to track down phones even after they have been sold or transferred to other locations
  • In 2019, a total of 43,397 mobile handsets were reported stolen or lost in the city, with only 2,088 being recovered
  • In 2020, the figure came down to 39,819, with only 1,916 phones being recovered
  • In 2021, out of 51,030 stolen or lost phones, only 3,230 were recovered
  • The Kurla police station recovered around 126 phones in June this year
  • The Cuffe Parade police too used CEIR to track down an army jawan who had stolen 29 mobile phones left for charging in the Colaba Military Camp
  • Mohit Garg, deputy commissioner of police, Zone II, said that once the data, like the IMEI number and billing details, was filled in and the phone blocked, whenever a new SIM card was inserted, two messages were generated-one to the police station where the theft or loss was reported and the other to the complainant
  • This year, so far, the Mumbai police's Zone V, headed by DCP Ganesh Gawade, has recovered and returned around 634 mobile phones
  • Zone II under DCP Garg returned around 125 mobile phones valued at around Rs.15 lakh while Zone X recovered and returned around 344 mobile phones valued at around Rs.32 lakh

Statistics:

  • A total of 43,397 mobile handsets were reported stolen or lost in the city in 2019
  • Only 2,088 out of 43,397 mobile handsets reported stolen or lost in 2019 were recovered
  • In 2020, a total of 39,819 mobile handsets were reported stolen or lost in the city
  • Only 1,916 out of 39,819 mobile handsets reported stolen or lost in 2020 were recovered
  • In 2021, out of 51,030 stolen or lost phones, only 3,230 were recovered
  • The country-wise recovery rate is 14.4% through the CEIR portal, but in Mumbai the recovery percentage stands at 10.1%
  • Andaman and Nicobar has the highest recovery rate of 36% and Mizoram 30%
  • Since 2019 DoT has received around 34 lakhs block requests

Sources:

  • HT Digital Content Services
  • Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
  • Hindustan Times
  • Indian Police Service
  • Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR)