From Mumbai to Bangladesh: Inside India’s mobile theft network

Mumbai has reported over 39000 cases of stolen or lost mobile phones this year alone mdash and thatrsquos just up to September While criminal rackets smuggle handsets out of the country mainly to Bangladesh officials say many Mumbaikars are still not fully utilising a powerful tool at their fingertips the Sanchar Saathi portal ldquoMany people are unaware of this portal so complainants do not register stolen mobile phonesrdquo an officer saidAlarming statistics have emerged showing that 39257 complaints of mobile phone theft or loss were reported in the city between January and September 2025 alone These figures come from the Sanchar Saathi portal launched by the Department of Telecommunications DoT which allows citizens to report lost or stolen devicesLast year in 2024 the portal recorded over 57098 cases of mobile theft from Mumbai The Central Equipment Identity Register CEIR helps prevent the reuse of lost or stolen phones However once it became clear that CEIR cannot block devices being used outside India thieves identified a loophole and began exporting stolen Indian phones abroad In Chembur a man had his iPhone snatched by two men on a motorcycle about a month ago After he filed a complaint at Chunabhatti police station officials registered a case and launched an investigationSimilar thefts had been reported across Police Division 6 prompting Deputy Commissioner of Police Sameer Shaikh to set up a special task force to crack down on the mobile theft ring Through coordinated investigations the task force arrested six suspects mdash Sachin Gaikwad Tausif Siddiqui Amar Shankar Nisar Hussain Sadiq Ali and Mursid Siddiqui mdash from Mumbai and Navi Mumbai Two others Pradeep Gupta and Ajijur Rehman were arrested in Kolkata All eight men are known repeat offenders Police recovered 183 mobile phones valued at 3048000 from their possession Investigations revealed that the suspects were trafficking stolen phones across various Indian states and into BangladeshAccording to Assistant Police Inspector API Swapnil Damre of Chunabhatti police station the stolen phones were purchased in Mumbai repaired and modified before being resold through a wellorganised chain Most of the recovered phones were of Vivo Oppo and Samsung brands which are in high demand in Bangladesh police saidAccording to API Rajkumar Powar most of the accused are habitual offenders The investigation revealed that Sachin Gaikwad one of the key suspects allegedly bought stolen phones from local thieves and supplied them to Tausif Siddiqui who sent them to Kopar Khairane in Navi Mumbai There mobile repair technicians replaced damaged parts altered IMEI numbers changed covers and screen guards and refurbished the phones to make them appear brand newOnce ready the phones were transported to Pradeep Gupta via courier or porter in West Bengal Gupta then handed them over to Ajijur Rehman who had direct links to buyers in Bangladesh Through Rehmanrsquos network the stolen phones were allegedly smuggled across the border to Bangladesh by crossing rivers via boats where their market value is 3540 per cent higher than in India Police said the racket had been active for the past nine months during which the accused systematically exported stolen Indian phones to Bangladesh for profitPortal is phone ownerrsquos friendThe Sanchar Saathi portal is a unified digital platform designed to protect mobile users from theft and fraud It allows citizens to report lost or stolen phones which are then blocked across all telecom networks through the Central Equipment Identity Register CEIR database The system ensures that once an IMEI number is blacklisted the device becomes unusable with any SIM card in IndiaThe CEIR service was officially launched nationwide by the Department of Telecommunications Government of India on 17 May 2023 Initially introduced as a pilot project in 2019 across select states including Maharashtra Delhi and Karnataka the initiative received a positive response prompting the government to expand it countrywideSince its inception the portal has received more than 15 lakh mobile theft complaints from Mumbai alone making it one of the cities with the highest number of reported losses in the country Authorities have urged citizens to use the Sanchar Saathi portal to track and block stolen devices thereby aiding law enforcement in recovering them and cracking down on smuggling racketsldquoYou can instantly block your stolen mobile phone by registering it on the Sanchar Saathi portal The same platform also allows buyers to verify whether a secondhand device is genuine or reported stolen before purchasing itrdquo said Deputy Commissioner of Police Cyber Purushottam KaradThe Sanchar Saathi portal also offers services like TAFCOP which lets users check how many SIM cards are issued under their name and a device verification tool to confirm whether a phone is authentic or blacklisted Users can simply log on to wwwsancharsaathigovin and submit their IMEI number FIR copy and ID proof to block their device Once recovered the same platform allows the owner to request unblocking According to officials the Sanchar Saathi portal has significantly reduced mobile phone theft and helped trace thousands of stolen devices nationwide improving both telecom safety and consumer awarenessIMEI also vulnerableSenior cyber forensic expert Nishant Salunke says ldquoIn countries where changing a phonersquos IMEI number is not explicitly illegal a thriving grey market has emerged that enables stolen highend smartphones mdash particularly from India mdash to be reidentified and resold abroadrdquo The IMEI a unique 15digit identifier embedded in a phonersquos motherboard or firmware can be altered using inexpensive software tools or by replacing the mainboard itself effectively giving the device a new digital identityThe Mumbai Police Crime Branch Unit6 recently arrested two men from Powai for allegedly altering the IMEI numbers of stolen mobile phones Acting on a tipoff a team led by PI Bharat Ghone and PSI Dhutraj raided a mobile repair shop at Tunga Village Saki Vihar Road and detained shop owner Ramprasad Sargun Rajbhar 37 and technician Gulam Rasool Rashid Khan They found that Khan used a mobile app unlock tool via Google Chrome to tamper with IMEI numbers and reactivate stolen devices for resaleThe many pros of the Sanchar Saathi portalThe Sanchar Saathi portal also offers services like TAFCOP which lets users check how many SIM cards are issued under their name and a device verification tool to confirm whether a phone is authentic or blacklisted Users can simply log on to wwwsancharsaathigovingtgt Submit the IMEI numbergtgt FIR copygtgt ID proof to block their devicegtgt Once recovered the same platform allows the owner to request unblockingNumber of cases registered on the portal in 202457098Police recovered mobiles in Brsquodesh worthRs 30LMobile theft cases reported in the year 2025 till September39257