A total of 26 mobile phones that were either lost or stolen from people in the past couple of months were recovered and returned to the rightful owners by the cyber cell attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police in the presence of DCP (crime)- Avinash Ambure on Friday. The collective value of the mobile phones is pegged at ₹4.20 lakh.
The CEIR portal
Notably, the cyber cops used the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal to facilitate people reporting their lost or stolen mobile devices. The portal proved to be a crucial asset in tracing such devices across pan-India telecom networks. The CEIR is a citizen-centric portal launched by the central government under the aegis of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to curtail the counterfeit mobile phone market, discourage mobile phone theft, and misuse and tracing lost/stolen mobile devices.
CEIR also facilitates in blocking lost/stolen mobile devices in the network of all telecom operators across the country. In case any person tries to use the blocked mobile phone, its traceability is generated. Once the stolen/lost mobile phone is found it can be unblocked on the portal for its normal use by the rightful owners, officials said.
