The Mumbai Police have used cutting-edge technology to track down and restore 500 lost or stolen cell phones to their rightful owners. Zone 4 cops gave away 200 phones on New Year's, and on January 2, another 300 phones that the Ghatkopar Police had located will be turned over to their owners.
Special squads were set up at different police stations to address the problem of stolen and missing cell phones throughout Mumbai and its suburbs. Two constables and one officer make up each team. These teams were able to monitor and seize stolen phones nationwide by utilising the Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR) site and other cutting-edge technologies.
When Zone 4 police stations tracked down 200 stolen phones in 10 days in 2024, they accomplished a noteworthy milestone. This was completed under DCP R. Ragasudha's supervision. Using the CEIR site and additional resources, the special teams from the police stations in Matunga, Sion, Antop Hill, Wadala, Bhoiwada, Kalachowki, and RAK Marg were able to locate and retrieve the devices. On January 1, these phones were given back to their owners.
In the meantime, the Ghatkopar Police located 300 phones, worth ₹37.73 lakh, from all over Mumbai and the states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal by using CEIR data, technical know-how, and persistent follow-ups. On Thursday, January 2, the complainants will receive these recovered phones at Patidar Hall, LBS Road, Ghatkopar.
These cases solved by police were the cases that were registered throughout the year but cases about mobile theft were registered on December 31 and were solved by Colaba Police on New Year’s Eve. On December 31, 2024, the Colaba Police Station successfully solved three cases of mobile phone theft and recovered 10 stolen phones valued at ₹1.82 lakh. Senior Police Inspector Swati Pethkar and DCP Zone 1 provided direction for the arrests.
On the same day, complainant Lijo Oman, a 25-year-old Mumbai resident, reported that his INR 55,000 Apple iPhone 14 had been stolen from behind the Taj Hotel, next to the Gokul Warden Shop. The guy, wearing a grey shirt, pulled the phone from the pocket of his jeans.
After examining CCTV footage, the detecting team — led by PSI Vijay Gawde and API Dnyaneshwar Kandekar — identified four suspects. They were arrested during a watchful patrol in Colaba. The defendants were named as Imad Latif (29), a painter from Surat, Gujarat; Juver Suleman Patel (32), a driver from Surat, Gujarat; Rafik Salim Shaikh (28), a labourer from Surat, Gujarat; and Firoz Ibrahim Shaikh (40), an auto driver from Surat, Gujarat.
A Samsung phone (INR 6,000), OnePlus phone (INR 20,000), Vivo phone (INR 18,000), Redmi phone (INR 13,000), Lenovo phone (INR 7,000), and Apple iPhone 14 have all been confiscated by the police. Two of the phones were given back to their original owners. The remaining four phones are being investigated to find their owners.
On December 31, 2024, Bhaskar Popatlal Parekh, a 68-year-old complainant, said that his Samsung A1 phone, valued at INR 11,000, had been stolen when he was at the Gateway of India. Following leads, the squad detained two suspects: Farooq Shahawali Shaikh, 30, and Santosh Mohan Shinde, 50, both of whom were Ghatkopar-based auto drivers. Police have taken a Motorola phone (of INR 27,000), a Samsung phone (worth INR 11,000), an IQOO phone (worth INR 10,000), and a Vivo phone (about INR 20,000) from the pair.
Under the pertinent sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, two FIRs have been filed.
Police's prompt response demonstrates their alertness at busy occasions, like New Year's Eve at the Gateway of India. The remaining complainants are being tracked down and their stolen goods are being returned.