BHUBANESWAR: Sanghamitra Swain had lost all hope of getting her mobile phone back that was stolen near Kalinga Stadium around two years ago. But much to her surprise, Saheed Nagar police contacted her on Monday and handed over her phone after recovering it from a thief.
Not only Swain, but many like her have regained their faith in the police after they got back their stolen phones over the past few days, courtesy a special drive, launched by the commissionerate police, to trace the actual owners of some 500-odd unclaimed mobile phones, recovered from thieves. The police have issued a WhatsApp helpline number, 7077798111, for the drive.
"We have a large number of unclaimed mobile phones in Bhubaneswar urban police district (UPD). We urge people to message us on WhatsApp, stating the IMEI numbers of their stolen phones, the model numbers and case reference (if any). If their details match with any of the unclaimed phones, we will immediately contact them," deputy commissioner of police (Bhubaneswar) Uma Shankar Dash said. Dash added that a special fair was organised at the Saheed Nagar police station to return 40 recovered phones to their genuine owners on Monday.
"We appreciate the move by the police. In many cases, people fail to get their stolen phones back despite lodging complaints with the police. I did not lodge any complaint when I lost my phone," Swain said.
The police said they have been contacting people even though the victims did not lodge any complaint with them. "We are reaching out to people by verifying the IMEI numbers of their stolen phones. In many cases, the service providers or sellers of the phones are unable to provide us proper address and contact details of the real owners. We are returning the phones following proper verification," Dash said.
However, the police are facing difficulty in identifying the owners of some phones that are locked. "Some smartphones remain locked. We are planning to hire a technician who can help us unlock those so that we can find the IMEI numbers," an officer said.
