Not everyone is fortunate enough to get back item's they have lost at railway stations and on the trains. However, in 2021, hundreds of 'lucky' victims got their phones back. The government railway police (GRP) of Mumbai returned 2,657 mobile phones to their owners in 2021 which were recovered from thieves.
Apart from mobile phones, GRP Mumbai also returned nearly thousands of other items, including jewellery and purse, which were recovered from the thieves to their rightful owners.
"In 2021, total 4,121 items were recovered from thieves including 3,112 mobile phones, off these 3,617 items including 2,657 mobile phones already handed over (returned) to their rightful owners, returning process of other items are on," said GRP officials.
"People are emotionally attached to their phones. They have their contacts, data, bank details, passwords and memories stored in them. Phones are the most common objects that get misplaced or stolen. We file missing reports, but now we have made it a priority to trace them. A phone is not just a physical possession; people’s sentiments are linked to them,” said a senior officer of Mumbai GRP.
"In order to win the confidence of the people, Mumbai GRP promptly decided to return the cell phones to their owners," said a senior inspector of GRP, adding that in the case of mobile theft most commuters think that they will not get back the phones.
"In the first week of February 2021, I had boarded a train from Thane station after few minutes when train about to reach Mulund I got a feeling that my phone had been gone. I was concerned as all my digital wallets were logged in on the phone,” said the 27 -year-old Rohit Kumar. After that Rohit registered a complaint and returned home. Rohit is a resident of Jabalpur, MP. The incident took place when he had come to Mumbai to meet a relative.
"I was surprised when I got a call from Thane GRP. All my colleagues had rebuked me when I complained because they assumed I would never see my phone again,” said Rohit, who got his phone back on February 4th 2022, almost after one year.
Similarly, Rahul Rathod (28), a resident of Sion, was also surprised when he received a phone call on the morning of January 25th, 2022 from a police officer of Dadar GRP, informing him that his mobile phone, which he had lost seven months between Matunga and Dadar, had been traced. He asked Rahul to collect his phone.
"I could not believe that the phone had been found. I had dropped it and tried locating it by tracking the IMEI number, but gave up. Each time I passed by the area, I remembered that I had lost my phone in the vicinity. It is amazing that the GRP managed to find it,” said Rahul
Janardan Kekare (35) resident of Khadvali, said, he never thought he would get back his phone almost six months after he had lost it. Kekare lost his phone between Titwala and Kalyan in July 2021. Thanking the GRP, Kalyan said, "when he received a call from GRP on February one, he thought some of his friends joking with him."
