Telangana stands second in India in recovering lost mobile phones

HYDERABAD: Telangana Police have so far tracked down 4,083 lost or missing mobile phones in a record 95 days and returned it to their rightful owners, using the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal. This is the second-highest number of mobile phones recovered in the country in any State using the CEIR application.

The CEIR portal was developed and launched on April 19, 2023 by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to combat mobile theft and counterfeit devices. The CEIR portal was officially launched across the country on May 17, 2023, and Telangana State was selected as the pilot for implementation.

The CEIR portal works by storing the IMEI numbers of all mobile phones sold in India. When a mobile phone is reportedly lost or stolen, the IMEI number is blocked in the CEIR database. This prevents the phone from being used on any cellular network in India.

If the lost or stolen mobile phone is recovered, the IMEI number can be unblocked in the CEIR database and the phone can be returned to the rightful owner. The success of the CEIR portal in Telangana is due to the efforts of the Telangana Police. The police have trained 60 master trainers on how to use the CEIR portal, and these master trainers have trained over 7,000 police officers on how to use the portal. The police have also made it easy for citizens to report lost or stolen mobile phones. Citizens can report lost or stolen mobile phones through the TS Police Citizen Portal, or they can visit a police station. The success of the CEIR portal in Telangana shows that it is a effective tool for recovering lost or stolen mobile phones.

Over a span of 95 days, from April 20, 2023, to July 23, 2023, a staggering 4,083 lost or missing mobile devices were traced and returned to their rightful owners. According to a release by the police, "All the police units across the State have contributed to the tracing of lost/stolen mobile phones. However, considerable contributions have come from Cyberabad Commissionarate with (554) mobile devices, Rachakonda with (321) devices, Warangal Commissionarate with (300) devices and Hyderabad Commissionerate with (265) devices."

Dr Lavanya NJP, SP, Cyber Crime, CID; in coordination with DoT officials, including K Rajashekar, DDG Security; Murali Krishna, Director, Security; and Raghava Reddy, Additional Director, are overseeing the implementation of the CEIR application in the State.