Mumbai: Thief got your phone? Don’t forget the FIR

If you ever lose a phone in a theft ensure that you file a complaint and the police register an FIR Also do not forget to take the copy of your FIR This will help you get your phone back when foundThe Crime Branch officers recently recovered over 620 phones in raids on racketeers involved in smuggling of the smart devices They managed to trace over the owners of more than 100 phones but only seven of them could submit a copy of their FIR while others could not The reason the police did not file a complaint when victims approached them after losing their phoneThe court makes it mandatory to have a record at the police station of the stolen property for its return to the legitimate ownerldquoThe FIRs serves two purposesmdashone for submission before the court so that it can order the return of the property to the owner and the other to ensure longer jail time for the accused after they are handed over to the concerned police stationrdquo said a Crime Branch officer on condition of anonymityThe Crime Branch managed to extract the IMEI numbers of the mobile phones and has contacted the owners to ask them to claim their device But most owners are facing a hurdle due to the absence of an FIRAlso readCrime branch busts interstate mobile theft racket 135 phones seized 10 heldDenied an FIRldquoMy phone was stolen in Malad a couple of months ago while travelling on a BEST bus I visited Malad police station but they just gave me a missing note The Crime Branch called me yesterday and informed me that my phone had been found When I visited the unitrsquos office officers demanded a copy of the FIR which I donrsquot have This is frustratingrdquo said a 43yearold Malad resident not wishing to be identified fearing local police might not help him with the FIRA 21yearold woman had approached the RCF police three months ago but the police refused to file a complaint ldquoMy phone was stolen when I was travelling on a bus The police only gave me a missing note and said it was enough to get a new SIM card A couple of days ago I was happy to learn that the Crime Branch had found my phone But my happiness didnrsquot last long as they wanted an FIR to process my claim Now RCF police say they canrsquot register an FIR for the same mobile phone as they had issued a missing noterdquo the Chembur resident saidA 23yearold college student from Chembur is tired of making rounds of the police station for the complaint ldquoIf I have receipts and bills of a mobile phone with an IMEI number why is the phone not being handed over to me I am tired of visiting the police station as they just shoo me away This is frustratingrdquo he said after being found arguing with Crime Branch officersPolice stns file FIR nowOfficers from Unit 6 of the Crime Branch are now calling each police station to file FIRs and informing them that they donrsquot need to do any investigation as the phone and culprits have already been foundldquoThe previous police commissioner had made it mandatory to register an FIR for missing phones too But as we are calling the owners and asking them for an FIR copy itrsquos getting clear that police were refusing to abide by the orderrdquo said the Crime Branch officerAccording to police sources an internal notice was flashed to all the police stations along with the IMEI numbers to register the FIR and forward it to the Crime Branchrsquos Unit 6 ldquoTo reduce the hassle for the complainants we have asked the investigating officers of the police stations concerned to forward us the FIRsrdquo said Deputy Commissioner of Police Detection 1 Sangramsingh Nishandar