THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Losing personal electronic devices, especially mobile phones, is something people dread. Apart from the financial setback, there is the fear of confidential data being compromised. But, not many are aware that the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), a portal created by the department of telecommunication, is their best ally in tracking down and retrieving lost or stolen phones.
Between September 2019 and March 2025, the portal received 45,647 requests from the state for blocking mobile phones. Of these, nearly 39,500 phones were successfully blocked. Traceability reports were generated in around 35,000 instances, which culminated in the tracking of 29,000 phones. And, as many as 6,222 phones were successfully retrieved.
Many of the devices were recovered from local second-hand mobile shops, while some were repossessed from counterfeit markets in West Bengal, Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai, police sources said.
A senior police officer said the phones are blocked using their IMEI number. Using state-of-the-art digital tools, the devices are tracked, and once the geographical location is identified, they are physically retrieved. The collective worth of the recovered phones could be more than `6 crore, the official told TNIE.
However, it’s not always monetary loss that prompts users to register police complaints and report on the CEIR platform. Most fear the prospect of data stored in their phones being accessed by others, which could in turn ruin their personal and professional lives.
“The fear of data theft leaves victims asserting greater pressure on cops to trace their devices. Though high-end mobile phones have features that allow users to delete data remotely, very few use them,” said an officer with cyber division, who is part of the team that engages in tracking stolen/missing phones.
‘Stolen luxury phones used to harvest spare parts’
The officer said luxury phones that go missing are rarely used for making calls or surfing. They are used to source spare parts. “High-end devices have security features that enable users to detect if someone else has accessed them. Such phones end up in shops that specialise in harvesting components, which are sold to those seeking spares,” the officer added.
The tracking and tracing of phones is an arduous task, said an officer with Fort Police station in Thiruvananthapuram, who is involved in such work. Within Fort station limits, officers have managed to retrieve nearly 150 mobile phones.
The officer said in many cases the cost incurred by the force in retrieving a phone can far exceed its price. “In one particular case, we travelled to West Bengal to retrieve a phone. It’s the data stored in the devices that’s more precious to users,” the officer pointed out.