In six months, 1,049 mobile phones stolen in Mumbai

Next time you travel on a local train in Mumbai, hold tight to your mobile phone. As many as 1,049 phones, worth a whopping Rs 1.91 crore, were stolen between January and June on the suburban railway section this year.

The figure shot up from the 636 mobile phones worth Rs 1.09 crores stolen 10in the same period last year, reveled statistics from the government railway police (GRP).

Officers said most thefts were committed by juveniles, including both boys and girls, during the peak hours.

This rise is despite an anti-theft squad formed in each of the 17 railway police stations to curb the menace, and a tracking unit made functional from January this year.

A team of six personnel forms the phone tracking unit, which operates from the GRP headquarters. Dedicated to tracking stolen mobiles, its detection rate stood at 50%, with 524 phones recovered, officers said.

Investigators said is easy to steal phones as commuters often discover the loss much later, making it difficult to fix the location of the crime. The case is ultimately registered by the GRP, as the complainant was travelling in a train.

“We are focussed on tackling mobile phone theft, as it is a perennial problem for local train commuters. In order to improve policing, we have started a best detection of the month programme, where the work of each officer will be monitored for better output,” said Madhukar Pandey, commissioner, GRP.

With the rise of the involvement of juveniles, specifically in stealing mobile phones, the railway police are gathering details of habitual underage offenders.