Overview
- Delhi Police reviewed CEIR-derived figures for this year and flagged district-level anomalies, instructing senior officers to cross-check station records and confirm that portal entries match physical device handovers.
- Official Delhi data showed 21,751 phones traced, 14,613 unlocked and 7,560 handed back according to the CEIR portal but the top officer has asked for verification after some districts reported implausible recovery rates above 100 percent.
- Punjab Police reported recovering about 12,073 lost handsets over the past year using CEIR tools, field calls and public handover camps and estimated the devices’ conservative value at Rs 15–20 crore.
- The CEIR links device IMEI numbers across mobile operators so police can blacklist, locate or unlock phones and then use call detail analysis and targeted outreach to contact current users and arrange returns or legal action.
- Officials say better station-level auditing and faster reporting of lost or stolen phones will reduce misuse of devices and personal-data risks, and the Delhi review could prompt stricter national practices for confirming recoveries.