Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Woman cop recovers 350 stolen phones
THANE: While most cases of mobile thefts feature low on the priority list of the cops, here is a 34-year-old woman police naik from Thane Police commissionerate who diligently recovered 350 stolen mobile phones in the last three years.
Yashodha Ghode, police naik who was given patrolling duty and job of returning stolen properties wanted to prove she can do much more. By taking detection lessons from her seniors, she kept track of all the stolen mobile phones through IMEI numbers until another SIM card was activated on the phones. She then used to call the new SIM and convince the person holding the mobile that it was a stolen phone and to return it. She used translators at times when she could not understand the language of the person on the other side of the call. Surprisingly, more than 50 people couriered the phones to her and she sent them ‘Thank You’ cards.
Ghode received an incentive from her seniors for her detection work and used the money to make a short film on awareness on mobile theft.
In 2016, Ghode, attached to Vartak Nagar police station, was asked to look after the missing property register. She approached her seniors to get some inputs on detection when senior police inspector, Sanjay Gaikwad and police inspector, Santosh Ghatekar, guided her.
Ghode said, “I always wondered how each day we record so many missing mobile phones and how people easily misplace their phones. I started following these cases by tracking the IMEI numbers. These numbers do not change, only the SIM cards change. I would approach the technical team to understand these details. Once a SIM is activated in the stolen phone we get an alert and then we contact the person with the phone. I solved around 20 cases in 2018 and got the confidence to detect many more.”
Ghode used to visit the location where the new SIM was activated, before the person could deactivate it again. In most cases, the phones were sold to random people and with the help of police, she was successful in getting the stolen phones back. However, the problem was when the phone was traced to other states.
She said, “I would call the new number and explain to the person that they are using stolen phones. However, at times, not everyone understood Hindi or English, and I would have to hire a translator. I would also explain the consequences they can face and convince them to hand over the phone. More than 50 buyers from Kolkata, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu couriered the phone and I sent them ‘Thank You’ cards.”
DCP, zone 5, V Rathod, said, “Ghode went beyond the call of duty and recovered more than 350 stolen phones. We rewarded her for the same and she used the money to make a short film. Now she is also taking workshops for other officers on detecting mobile thefts following technical evidence.”