At least 41 mobile phones stolen in Delhi every day

Pankaj Sharma/Zee Research Group

If the data uploaded on Zonal Integrated Police Network (ZIPNET) portal for missing mobiles is any indication, Delhi has become the capital of mobile thefts in the country. Alarmingly, the number of stolen cell phones from Delhi has touched its peak in the last five years with at least 41 going missing here every day. A Zee Research Group (ZRG) analysis of the missing mobiles data on ZIPNET portal reveals that in 2013 so far nearly 41 mobiles have reportedly gone missing per day from Delhi in comparison to the last year’s figure of 37 per day lost mobile phones. Earlier in 2008, the figure recorded was 25.58 per day which got reduced to 17.70 in 2009. The trend of missing mobiles in Delhi picked up during 2010 and 2011. According to the analysis on an average 29.32 mobiles went missing everyday in 2010 and 34.42 in 2011 respectively. However, Delhi Police does not consider these figures as “alarming”. Rajan Bhagat, Delhi Police Spokesperson said, “The data updated on ZIPNET is not only of missing mobiles as it includes other information also.” But, according to the ZIPNET portal, it shows a complete list of missing/stolen mobile phones. “Moreover, Delhi police have special cells to locate lost mobiles which have traced many such phones but that did not get reflected in the data,” added Bhagat. Contrary to Delhi’s trend its neighbouring states including Rajasthan, Haryana and Chandigarh have shown some improvement in mobile phones loss over the last year. This year on an average 7.33 mobile phones have been stolen in Rajasthan daily over 12.24 phones lost daily last year. Similarly in Haryana and Chandigarh the numbers of stolen phones got reduced to 0.01and 1.75 in 2013 from 0.08 and 2.62 during 2012 respectively. However, there is a marginal increase in number of mobiles that have gone missing from Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand (UK). The number of phones reported missing daily from UP and UK has increased this year from 0.21 each to 0.36 and 0.46 respectively. ZIPNET, a website project on crime and related information, was introduced in the year 2004. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) approved the project with an objective of sharing real time criminal information. Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan police were the first four state police to join the effort. Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh Police joined the project later. Recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), also mooted to launch a special project that helps either locate or clone mobile phones on real time basis. The much awaited project which is yet to take off is expected to help curb mobile thefts in the country. However, experts do not think this project would be successful without police help. Amit Goel, chief executive officer at Knowledgefaber, opined, “We have many ways to locate stolen mobiles but there is no way to reach it back to the consumer. The effort of police in locating any missing phone is crucial. An integrated effort between Police and service operators is required to curb mobile thefts in the country.”