Growing thefts in the Mumbai Local are becoming a matter of concern. On an average, 70-80 mobile phones are stolen daily on Mumbai Locals. This average has been observed for the last two years. Out of these only 2-3 phones are retrieved daily by the police. Thieves take advantage of the crowded local trains and pickpockets or snatch when they get the opportunity. In the last two years, there have been 56,198 cases reported of stolen mobile phones. Out of which, only 4,628 cases were solved by the Railway Police Force (RPF).
Between January 2013 and December 2018, there were 59,904 cases of stolen mobile phones on the suburban rail network. The police were able to retrieve 8,686 phones. From January 2018-December 2018 alone, the railway police recorded 32,476 cases and were only able to solve 2,517 cases.
Later, the police received 23,722 complaints of stolen phones between January and December 2019. Of which, the police were able to find only 2,111 phones. Majority of the cases had taken place at Borivali, Kalyan, Thane, Kurla and Wadala.
Kurla topped the list with 3,306 cases of mobile theft whereas the other two stations had close to 2,500 mobile theft cases each.
Once the phones are reported as stolen, the police use tracking software to trace the phone. However, very few phones are ever tracked via the technology. The stolen phones are said to be sold to buyers in other Indian states and countries like Nepal.
However, the police have stated that they have formed a special task force to deal with the increasing number of thefts that have taken place in the local trains.
In other news, rail authorities have rolled out a mobile application- Sajha Prayas Aapka aur Rail ka (SPARK) that will monitor the work of On-Board Housekeeping Staff (OBHS) on a real-time basis. In the initial stage, the application has been provided in 42 Central Railway trains in Mumbai division.
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