Shimla cops cracks the code: 77% success rate in tracing lost phones

With around 77 per cent success rate in tracing lost and stolen mobile phones, the Shimla district police has been recognised as the best-performing unit in the state for maximum recovery of lost and stolen devices traced through the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR). For this, the district police was recently honoured during the annual zonal security conference for the north zone held in Solan district.

The one-day conference on security-related issues was organised by the Department of Telecommunications in which officials from DoT’s north zone licensed service areas (LSAs) including Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), along with representatives of various central and state law enforcement agencies from the northern region were present.

During the conference, the award was presented to Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Shimla.

So far, the police received around 1,015 complaints of stolen and lost mobile phones from across the district, out of which 777 devices were successfully traced and recovered by the team. The highest success rate in tracing such devices has been in Chirgaon region of the district.

Speaking on the achievement, the SSP said, “Mobile phones are not merely communication tools, but are deeply integrated with everyday life. Nowadays, all identity/KYC related platforms are run on mobile phones. These devices have become the best and easiest source of receiving and dissemination of various sorts of information and educational inputs. Society depends on cellphone-based digitalised activities from birth, marriages and celebrations to say everything.” Highlighting the efforts made by the police to trace lost and stones cellphones, he said the district’s cyber and field units coordinated closely through the CEIR and inter-state networks to ensure recovery of devices.

“Mobile phones have also been recovered from other states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal,” he said. He further said, “The district police have developed strong professional capabilities in solving cases ranging from murder, kidnapping, narcotics trafficking to tracing missing children, and are continuing to enhance cyber capabilities.”