The Delhi Police’s Metro unit has successfully recovered and returned more than 450 stolen mobile phones, valued at over Rs 1 crore, to their rightful owners within 20 days, officials reported on Friday.
According to the police, mobile thefts account for over 80% of all crimes registered in the Delhi Metro. To address this, the Metro unit launched ‘Mission Reconnect – Your Phone’s Journey Back Home’ on January 30. The initiative involved five specialised teams, including a technical unit, a field unit, a nodal officers’ unit, a court facilitation unit, and a reconnecting unit, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Metro) Hareshwar Swami stated.
As part of the mission, 32 teams covered 16 states, from Kerala to Jammu and Kashmir and from Meghalaya to Gujarat, tracking stolen phones, apprehending culprits, and returning the devices to their owners. The initiative was formally launched at a function at Utsav Sadan on Friday, where around 250 complainants were present, and 201 mobile phones were handed back.
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Separately, under ‘Operation Track Back,’ the Crime Branch of Delhi Police recovered 305 high-end stolen mobile phones worth approximately Rs 3 crore by February 19, an official revealed on Wednesday. Out of these, 216 phones have already been returned to verified owners.
During this crackdown on mobile theft and digital fraud, several arrests were made, disrupting international smuggling networks. On January 10, police arrested Manish Yadav in Wazirabad and recovered 195 stolen phones worth Rs 2 crore. Later, on January 30, two members of an international theft syndicate, Rahul and Waheed, were caught near Indraprastha Park with 58 stolen devices. On February 10, another suspect, Asif, was apprehended with 52 stolen phones, including 40 iPhones.
These operations highlight the Delhi Police‘s commitment to tackling mobile theft and ensuring the return of stolen property to its rightful owners.
(With inputs from PTI)