The district police in Ranipet have handed over 80 mobile phones worth ₹11.45 lakhs to its owners.

Saturday’s initiative comes after the formation of a Cyber Crime police unit at the SP office in the district and introduction of a cell tracker application where complaints can be registered.

As per norms, such missing phones should be traced and returned to owners once in six months in the district by respective police stations prior to the formation of the cyber crime cell. 

The cyber crime team has been monitoring the missing mobile phone handsets through their IMEI number at periodical intervals. Lost phones were tracked using IMEI numbers. 

The police said that whenever the missing phones are activated, either by those who find them on the road or by those who bought these second-hand mobile phones from shops without proper verification, the cybercrime police team alerts the user that the phones they are using are crime property.

The users either hand them over to the police or sends them through courier from other districts and other States. Using cybercrime cells, all complaints of snatching or missing mobiles phones were taken up for investigation.