Mumbai Police trace over 200 phones, hand over 160 to owners in Kandivli

The Central Equipment Identity Register CEIR portal has brought smiles to the faces of more than 150 people after the Kandivli police recovered and returned their lost or stolen mobile phones on SaturdayOver the past year more than 500 cases of missing and stolen mobile phones were reported at Kandivli police station With the help of the CEIR portal police traced over 200 handsets Of these 160 recovered mobile phones were handed over to their rightful owners during a special programme held on SaturdayThe handover took place in the presence of Zone XI Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Jadhav Malvani Division Assistant Commissioner of Police Nita Padvi Kandivali Senior Inspector Karan Sonkawade and the staff of Kandivali police station Police said the recoveries were the result of sustained efforts and continuous followups carried out under the supervision of Police Inspector Shekhar Shinde Assistant Police Inspector Deepak Kadbane Police SubInspector Nitin Satam and their teamsldquoFrom January 2025 to December 20 a total of 556 cases of mobile phone theft and missing complaints were registered at Kandivli police station Using the Central governmentrsquos CEIR portal we successfully traced around 200 mobile devices Of these 160 phones were returned to their owners after calling them to the police stationrdquo a police officer saidThe officer added that another 40 traced mobile phones are currently in transit from various states and are expected to reach Mumbai via courier ldquoOnce received these phones will also be handed over to their respective ownersrdquo the officer saidHow the system worksExplaining the process a police officer said the CEIR portal is one of the governmentrsquos most effective initiatives for tracing lost and stolen mobile phonesldquoIf a phone is lost or stolen citizens should register a complaint under the lsquoLost and Foundrsquo section on the Mumbai Police website A complaint ID is generated and sent to the registered email addressrdquo the officer saidAfter submitting a printout of the complaint to the local police station officers block the handsetrsquos IMEI number on the CEIR portal If anyone attempts to reuse the phone or insert a SIM card an automatic alert is sent to both the police and the original ownerldquoUsing SIM card KYC details we trace the person using the phone issue a legal notice and direct them to surrender the handset In many cases phones are voluntarily returned via courier If not we coordinate with police in other states to seize the devices and send them to Mumbairdquo the officer saidTo strengthen the initiative Mumbai Police launched a special drive deploying two teams from each police zone to different states to recover traced phones The drive has resulted in a large number of missing and stolen mobiles being recovered and returnedThe recovered phones include brands such as Samsung Realme Redmi OPPO Vivo iPhone and Poco The total estimated value of the recovered devices is between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 25 lakhPolice said the phones were recovered from Uttar Pradesh Bihar West Bengal Jharkhand and various parts of Maharashtra Some devices were recovered with the help of local police in those states while many were voluntarily returned by buyers through courier servicesVictims speakShobha Linga who works in the healthcare industry said her mobile phone was stolen three months ago ldquoBecause of my work my phone had important contact numbers of doctors I felt extremely helplessrdquo she saidldquoI also faced difficulty in reading writing and filing an online complaint due to a cataract However the police officers helped me register the complaint Today when I got my phone back I felt immense happiness I urge people to immediately approach the police and not lose hoperdquo she saidAnother victim Prakash said his mobile phone was stolen three months ago on SV Road ldquoThere is no limit to my happiness today I thank Mumbai Police and Kandivli police for their effortsrdquo he saidA young man who also received his phone back said he had purchased the handset on EMI using a credit card about a year ago after which it was stolen ldquoI am extremely happy to have received my phone back Thanks to the Mumbai Policerdquo he said160No of handsets handed over to owners on Sat