The police in Tirupattur handed 149 lost and found mobile phones to the owners on Saturday. Superintendent of Police Albert John distributed the phones worth ₹35 lakh that were recovered by the cyber crime police to the owners.
The initiative comes many months after the formation of a dedicated Cyber Crime police station at the SP office in Tirupattur. As per norms, such missing phones are traced and returned to owners once in six months in the district by police stations prior to the formation of the cyber crime cell. “Owners of lost mobiles are from various places including Bengaluru, Chennai, Ambur, and Vellore. Most of them are travellers,” said Mr. John.
A five-member team led by an inspector of the District Cyber Crime police station traced the missing phones for which complaints were filed in all 11 Law and Order police stations in the district. The cyber crime team has been monitoring the missing mobile phones through their IMEI number at periodical intervals. Lost phones were tracked using those numbers.
Police said whenever the missing phones were activated, either by those who found them on the road or bought second-hand mobile phones from shops without proper verification, the cyber crime police team would alert the user that it is illegal property. The users would either hand them over to the police or send them through courier from other districts and other States. Using cyber crime cells, all complaints of snatching or missing mobiles phones were taken up for investigation.
Currently, the district police also has a helpline number (9442992526) for residents to alert the cyber crime team at the SP office on the missing mobile phones and those who are in possession of such phones. They can also file complaints at the central Equipment Identity Register through www.ceir.gov.in
