The Anantapur police handed over 372 missing or stolen mobile phones that were recovered to their owners at a function held at the district police office here on October 2 (Monday).
Superintendent of Police K.K.N. Anburajan said that the value of the recovered mobiles was ₹73 lakh.
The SP said that the police had recovered 7,417 mobile phones worth more than ₹12.03 crore so far through the ‘chatBot’ software application and those had been handed over to their owners.
“During the investigation, our teams thought innovatively to ascertain whether the mobile phones were either stolen or missing,” he said.
“In the case of stolen mobiles, the police keep an eye on their operations. If anyone finds a missing phone and gives it to the police, we appreciate it,” the SP said.
Reiterating that the cybercrime cases are among the priorities, the SP said 251 such complaints were received in the last 10 days. “We have solved a majority of them. People can lodge complaints about cybercrimes by dialling the helpline number 1930,” the SP said.
The SP urged the people to utilise the ChatBot service to register the details of the stolen and missing phones in the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR). “We have also issued instructions through the ChatBot service as to how to register the details of the stolen and missing phones in the CEIR. The SIM cards and IMEI numbers of the stolen mobiles will be blocked immediately and tt will be easy to investigate the cases,” Mr Anbhurajan explained, adding that cyberbullying sheets would be opened against those who post insulting or humiliating content on the social media.