Telangana tops in recovery of stolen mobile phones in India

Hyderabad, Aug 9 (IANS) The Telangana Police ranks first in the country in recovery of stolen mobile phones.

The state police have recovered 5,038 stolen/missing mobile phones using the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) which has been developed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to curb the menace of mobile theft and counterfeit mobile devices.

Telangana Police achieved the first place in the country with the recovery rate of 67.98 per cent. Karnataka stands second with a recovery rate of 54.20 while Andhra Pradesh is at third place with 50.90 per cent.

The CEIR portal was officially launched nationwide on May 17 but it was started on a pilot basis in Telangana on April 19, 2023 while it was started on a pilot basis in Karnataka in September 2022.

A total of 5,038 lost/stolen mobile devices were recovered in a span of 110 days, of which the last 1000 were recovered in 16 days and handed over to complainants.

Director General of Police Anjani Kumar congratulated CEIR nodal officer and Additional Director General of Police, CID, Mahesh M. Bhagwat and team on this occasion for consistent monitoring and helping unit level teams in achieving this feat.

The portal is operational in all 780 police stations in the state. The ADGP, CID monitors the progress of work under CEIR portal. As per CEIR data pertaining to Telangana, 55,219 mobile devices were blocked, 11,297 traceability reports were received while 5,038 devices were unblocked and handed over to rightful owners.

Within Telangana, considerable contribution is made by Cyberabad Commissionerate by recovering 763 stolen/missing mobile devices. This was followed by Hyderabad Commissionerate with 402 mobile devices and Rachakonda Commissionerate with 398 devices.

To enhance user friendliness and serve the citizens of Telangana more efficiently, Telangana Police in coordination with DoT has successfully integrated CEIR portal with TS Police Citizen portal. As a result citizens are encouraged to utilise this service on the TS Police Citizen Portal instead of visiting MeeSeva or police stations for reporting lost/missing mobile devices.