Over 400 stolen, lost mobile phones recovered in south Delhi; 101 returned to owners

New Delhi, Sep 6 (PTI) The Delhi Police has recovered more than 400 stolen and lost mobile phones in South Delhi in the last two months, of which 101 have been handed over to their owners, an official said on Saturday.

The initiative comes in the backdrop of increasing cases of mobile theft and snatching in the city.

To counter the trend, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had earlier launched the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal, which allows both investigating agencies and the general public to block the IMEI numbers of stolen devices through the Delhi Police website.

"This makes it difficult for thieves and snatchers to use or sell the devices within the country, often forcing them to attempt smuggling the handsets abroad," a senior police officer said.

According to police, different units of the South district, including the Special Staff, Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS) and various police stations, conducted sustained operations to recover stolen and missing phones from pickpockets, robbers, snatchers and receivers of stolen property.

While the Special Staff team recovered around 200 phones, AATS recovered 50, Neb Sarai police recovered about 100 and other teams recovered another 100 handsets.

After verifying ownership, 101 mobile phones were returned to their owners on Saturday at a small function held at the DCP office, police said.

The phones were recovered by multiple police stations, including Ambedkar Nagar (14), Defence Colony (11), Neb Sarai (11), Sangam Vihar (16), Tigri (10), Fatehpur Beri (7), Kotla Mubarakpur (7), Greater Kailash (5), Mehrauli (5), Saket (5), Hauz Khas (4), Maidan Garhi (3) and Lodhi Colony (3).

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ankit Chauhan said another event will be organised soon to return the remaining phones to their rightful owners after due verification. PTI SSJ RT RT