How I lost my mobile?
8th July 2010 – Lost my Motorola L9 mobile phone while travelling in Mumbai Local Train.
I still remember that day vividly. Trains were running late by 15-30 mins due to heavy rains throughout the day. The time on my watch was 8:45 pm as I was waiting at the Andheri Station to catch a Virar train.
I somehow managed to sneak in the Jam Packed train as it arrived. I checked my pocket to see if my mobile phone & my wallet were safe & it was safe. Since I was very tired, I was feeling a bit sleepy. As soon as Borivali station came, I checked my pocket again & to my surprise found that the phone was not there. The worst thing was that I had kept it on silent mode. I immediately told one of the person in the train to call on my phone but it was not available. I tried again after reaching home but the phone was switched off.
The Chase Begins!!
The 1st thing that I did the next day was to block my sim card & apply for a duplicate sim of the same number. So as I was using a TATA Docomo number, I went to their Office & blocked my sim card & applied for a duplicate sim of the same number.
Then I went to a Local Police Station in my area, but they refused to register my complaint stating that as my phone was missing in Borivali Station I should register my complaint in Borivali Railway Police Station.
I went to Borivali Railway Police Station & explained the incident to the Officer .He explained me that the Tracking process works in this order:-
User -> Phone lost -> Lodges Complaint in Police Station -> Police writes a mail to the ACP/DCP or the Head of the concerned department -> The Head then writes a mail to the Mobile Company & thus the process of Tracking begins & it would take some days to track my mobile.
I then wrote an application letter with the details of my mobile phone including the IMEI number. An IMEI number (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a unique 17 or 15 digit code used to identify an individual mobile station to a GSM network.
Now I had two options either to block the IMEI number but blocking the IMEI number would nullify my chances of getting the mobile back as the phone could not be tracked and it could not be used by me or the one who stoled it.
The second option was not to block the IMEI number. Here the chances of me getting the mobile was more as swapping a SIM card will not stop a phone from being banned. IMEI numbers are stored in the phones themselves, not on the SIM cards. So when any person inserts any other SIM the mobile could be tracked using the IMEI number. I knew that it would take time but I was hopeful that I would get it back.
‘Lost & Found’ Operation Accomplished :-
After continuous follow up every 15 days for 4-5 months finally I got a call on 8th Dec 2010 – from the Police Station that they have captured my mobile as it was tracked to a place called Badlapur.
Hats off to Mumbai Police & their team consisting of Mr.Anil Sadigale & Mr.Manoj Bhagat
PS: -
Lessons Learnt:-
- Never ever give up. Sometimes in life things don't go your way. But all u have to do is smile and think to yourself "It will get better, I'll make it better!"
Always focus on the solution, not on the problem.
Last but not the least have believe in Mumbai Police.
