Theft of cellphones in local trains has increased by almost 29 per cent since the last year, with an average of 91 cellphones being stolen monthly since January 2013.
Data obtained from the Government Railway Police states that from 2007 to 2012, a total of 4,639 theft cases of cellphones were registered with the GRP, which means that an average of 65 cellphones were stolen per month.
According to the data, of the total thefts, 2,712 cases were recorded at CR, while 1,927 cases were registered at WR. Borivali and Dadar stations were found most notorious, while Kurla, Thane, Andheri stations were not far behind.
Churchgate proved to be a safer station than CST. Churchgate station had 176 cases of cellphone thefts, while CST had almost double the number, with 328 cases.
Of the 4,639 stolen cellphones, 3,809 handsets were detected by the GRP later, which marked a detection rate of 82 per cent. However, the first three months of the current calendar year i.e. January to March has seen a rise in theft cases. In the first quarter, 272 cases of cellphone thefts have been registered, with detection rate dropping to 69 per cent. “If the stolen handset is used within Mumbai or the adjacent area, then our men are smart enough to trace and detect it, but when the handset is dispatched to other states, mostly in the UP, we face a problem,” said Ghanshyam Bhandare, DCP, GRP, Central Railway.
Speaking to this newspaper, an officer investigating theft cases, said, “Normally, commuters are reluctant to report cellphone theft cases. However, he must file a missing complaint with the GRP or local police to avoid any trouble in the future as cellphones are often misused.”
However, passengers are not convinced with the GRP’s tall claim. “The GRP’s claim of 82 per cent detection is a complete farce. My Nokia 6708 was stolen in April 2008 at Parel station. I registered a case with the Dadar GRP and followed up for six months. I had to stop hoping, when I did not receive any positive response from the Dadar GRP,” said Amit Kumar, a business executive with Cipla Ltd.