Lost your mobile phone? Here’s how the Mysuru police traced 15 lost devices and returned it to their owners

A total of 15 mobile phones, which had either been stolen or lost in Mysuru city during the last one month, were returned to their owners thanks to Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), a portal started by the Union Ministry of Telecommunications.

A total of 15 mobile phones, which had either been stolen or lost in Mysuru city during the last one month, were returned to their owners at a function in the City Police Commissioner’s office on Saturday.

The total value of the stolen or lost mobile phones, manufactured by different companies, was around ₹3.5 lakh.

City Police Commissioner Ramesh B said mobile phones, either stolen or lost, can now be traced quickly thanks to Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), a portal started by the Union Ministry of Telecommunications.

Earlier, after registering complaints of lost mobile phones, the police had to check if the equipment was being used and it was not possible to check for all the lost phones continuously.

However, with the launch of the CEIR portal, the IMEI number of the lost or stolen phones is uploaded. “When it is used, immediately an alert is received,” said Mr. Ramesh claiming that the exercise of tracing lost or stolen mobile phones has become swifter with the portal.

Police officials said people losing their mobile phones should first obtain an acknowledgement from the e-lost app of Karnataka State Police (KSP) and log onto https://www.ceir.gov.in to enter the details of their mobile number and IMEI details along with Aadhaar number.

The complainants should enter both the IMEI numbers if their mobile phones had two SIM slots, a police official said. If only one IMEI number is entered for mobile phones with two SIM slots, the phone can still be used by inserting the SIM card in the unreported IMEI, a police official said.