Tirupati: Chittoor district police have recovered 300 mobile phones worth over Rs 60 lakh through the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal and returned them to their rightful owners. This recovery was part of a special drive undertaken by the district police wing in multiple phases.
At a press conference on Thursday, additional superintendent of police L. Sudhakar revealed that the third phase of the Chatbot-CEIR drive has set a new record in terms of execution plan and the speed of recovery. In all three phases, the police recovered about 1,000 phones worth Rs 2 crore, including 500 in the first phase, 200 in the second phase, and now 300 phones in the third phase.
ASP Sudhakar noted that the recovered phones were traced back to various states like Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Rajasthan, Kerala, Bihar, Punjab, and neighboring states like Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.
He commended the Chatbot team for their efforts in efficiently tracking and recovering the stolen devices. However, Sudhakar acknowledged that some cases are still pending, which the police aim to resolve soon.
Explaining the complaint filing process, District SP Y. Rishanth Reddy said that victims should first send a ‘Hi’ or ‘Help’ message to the WhatsApp number 9440900004. They would then receive a link to a Google form to fill in their details like name, contact number, missing phone model, IMEI number, and location where the phone was lost. The complaint would be registered immediately, the SP assured.
