The Tiruvannamalai District Police have returned 100 lost or stolen mobile phones to their owners here on Monday.
Superintendent of Police (SP) K. Karthikeyan distributed the phones worth ₹25 lakh, which were recovered by the Tiruvannamalai district cyber crime police, to the owners. As per the norms, missing mobile phones are traced and handed over to owners once in six months by the respective police stations. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire process took considerably longer. “The owners are from places including Bengaluru, Chennai, Chittoor and Tiruvannamalai town. Most of them are pilgrims and tourists,” he said.
A five-member team led by M. Palani, Additional Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime), traced the missing phones. The cyber crime team tracked the mobile phones using their IMEI numbers.
The police said that whenever the missing phones were activated, either by those who found them on the road or who bought them second-hand, the team alerted them that the mobile phones they were using were lost or stolen property. The users either handed them over to the police or sent them through courier from other districts and States. Using cyber crime cells, all complaints of snatching or missing mobiles phones were taken up for investigation.
