Telangana ranks first in the country for recovering lost and stolen mobile devices through the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal. With a recovery rate of 67.98 per cent, Telangana has successfully tracked 5,038 mobile devices. Karnataka came second, with a recovery rate of 54.20 per cent, followed by Andhra Pradesh (50.90%), as stated in an official release.

The CEIR portal, developed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), was created to combat mobile theft and the proliferation of counterfeit mobile devices. The portal was officially launched nationwide on May 17, 2023. It was initially piloted in Telangana from April 19, 2023, and later in Karnataka in September 2022.

Operational in all 780 police stations within Telangana, the CEIR portal is monitored by Additional DGP CID Mahesh M Bhagwat, who is the designated Nodal Officer for CEIR in the state.

 

The release mentioned that a total of 5,038 lost or stolen mobile devices were successfully recovered in a span of 110 days. Notably, the last 1,000 devices were recovered in just 16 days and returned to the respective complainants.

Anjani Kumar, the Director General of Police for Telangana, commended Mahesh Bhagwat and his team for their consistent monitoring efforts and support in achieving this remarkable feat. The use of the CEIR portal by the Telangana Police to recover lost mobile phones has significantly benefited the state's citizens,said DGP .

To enhance user convenience and provide more efficient services to the people of Telangana, the state's police force collaborated with the Department of Telecommunications to integrate the CEIR portal with the Telangana State Police Citizen Portal. This integration encourages citizens to use the service on the Police Citizen Portal instead of physically visiting 'MeeSeva' centers or police stations to report lost or missing mobile devices, as stated in the release.