BENGALURU: Karnataka police are using cutting-edge technology to monitor and prevent crime. With a phenomenal increase in mobile phone thefts, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is implementing a Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR) to block stolen and lost phones.
The CEIR connects to the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) database of all mobile operators, and acts as a central system for all telecommunication service providers (TSPS) to share lost/stolen mobile devices, so that the device blocked in one network does not work in other networks, even if the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card in the device is changed.
“The CEIR project has been implemented throughout the state, and login credentials are created for all the units,” said Director General & Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Praveen Sood. Karnataka police are the third to implement the CEIR project after Delhi and Maharashtra. “The CEIR, if properly implemented, will help curtail the counterfeit mobile market and discourage mobile phone theft, while protecting consumer interest. The objective is to make mobile thefts less lucrative,” said Sood.
To block a stolen mobile set with the CEIR, the owner/ complainant should visit www.ceir.gov.in. In case the complainant /user does not block the mobile set, the Station House Officer (SHO) shall send the details generated through ‘e lost’, or details of cases booked under Section 392 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of stolen mobiles to nodal officers, to block the mobile sets. The police inspector, Cyber, Economics & Narcotics police, (CEN) is the nodal officer at the unit level.
“The nodal officers shall scrutinise requests from police stations to block mobile sets and make a blocking request in CEIR portal through the logins provided to the units. Once the traceability report is generated through CEIR, the nodal officers shall communicate to police stations, and efforts will be made by them to trace the mobile sets,” said the police chief.
What happens if the stolen or lost mobile set is found? In such an eventuality, the SHO shall send a request to the nodal officers to unblock the mobile phones. The nodal officers will forward the request to the CEIR to unblock the mobile set through their designated logins.
The nodal officers are also required to send a monthly report to the unit heads, of the list of mobile sets to be blocked and/or unblocked, along with the case details. The unit heads will scrutinise the reports and analyse whether the CEIR is properly implemented or not.