KARACHI, May 9: A total of 2,319 cellphone sets had either been snatched or stolen during the past three months in the metropolis and none of them has so far been detected by any cellular phone company operating in the city. The IMEI numbers had been obtained from the users of the stolen or snatched phone sets and passed on to all these companies.

According to the understanding between the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the CPLC, the mobile phone operators would pass on the information to the CPLC as soon as a stolen set is made functional. The mobile phone company concerned would inform the new user about the set being a stolen one, and would also advise him to contact police or CPLC. The set’s SIM would also be blocked, CPLC chief Sharfuddin Memon said at a press conference at his office on Monday. Among others, DIG Operations Mushtaq Shah and TPO Saddar Dr Sanaullah Abbasi were present on the occasion.

Replying to a question, Mr Memon said: “No cellular phone company has so far detected any stolen mobile phone set.” He said that the companies were bound to cooperate with the CPLC in accordance with the PTA’s instructions.

However, sources in the police department said that the cellular companies were not making efforts to detect the stolen mobile phone sets. They revealed that the SIMs of different stolen sets, recovered from some arrested suspects, were inserted into the stolen sets but after the same were switched on, neither any alert from a cellular phone company was received, nor were the SIMs blocked.

According to the data of the CPLC, the red areas, where the number of incidents of cell phone snatching/stealing has remained alarmingly high, are Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Nazimabad, Sir Syed Town, Ferozabad and Korangi.

SSP Sanaullah Abbasi said that the police had been taking different measures to put a check on the sale and purchase of stolen mobile phone sets and the Karachi Electronic Dealers Association (KEDA) had assured the police of extending maximum cooperation in identifying the shopkeepers dealing in stolen sets.