Thoppumpady police recover 50 missing phones in six months

Kochi: Thoppumpady police recovered around 50 phones that went missing from the police station limits in the first six months of this year.According to sources, police were able to track down the phones and return them to their rightful owners through comprehensive registration and follow-up of the missing phones on the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal.CEIR is a centralised system implemented to manage and track mobile devices using their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers. It aims to combat mobile device theft and misuse.It acts as a central system for all network operators to share blacklisted mobile devices so that devices blacklisted on one network will not work on any other, even if the SIM card is changed.Officials said that all phones went missing while the owners were within the police station limits.

“In most cases, the phones were stolen. Once the owner files a complaint with us, we help them register it on the CEIR portal. Once registered, we will be alerted when these phones become active again,” said an officer with Thoppumpady police.He said that in most cases the current owners may have bought them from a second-hand store, unaware that they were stolen. “Once active, we contact the current user and urge the owners to return them. Most volunteer to surrender them. In other cases, we track the phones down and take them into custody. In most cases, when we return the phones to the owners, they hardly press any further charges,” the officer added.Police said that consumers are advised to purchase the devices from authorised sources. When a handset is lost or stolen, the consumer should immediately notify the law enforcement agencies, police said.