VIJAYAWADA: Bapatla police on Monday handed over 251 recovered mobile phones to their owners as part of the seventh phase of the mobile phone recovery and distribution programme.
SP B Uma Maheshwar personally distributed the recovered phones to the victims at the police headquarters.
With the latest recovery, the district police have retrieved 1,572 lost mobile phones in seven phases, with their total estimated value standing at around `3.14 crore. The 251 phones recovered in the seventh phase are valued at `50.20 lakh.
The SP said a team comprising police personnel with expertise in technology had been constituted at the district headquarters to trace and recover lost mobile phones. So far, nearly 72% of reported lost phones have been recovered, he said.
Uma Maheshwar urged people not to purchase suspicious second-hand mobile phones from unknown persons, particularly those without bills or supporting documents. He warned that buying or selling stolen phones was a criminal offence and could result in criminal cases.