[saurabh2711]

HI,

A sad way to re-join the elite group after a long forceful hideout. But a lesson learned & worth sharing, in upcoming write-up.

I usually don't celebrate Holi, simply to avoid the amount of cleaning involved afterwards. But this is the costliest Holi I (did not) celebrate.

I work with a Middle east client on a support project. Hence we follow client holiday & Friday_Saturday offs. Returned home from office a bit early on Holi, to enjoy whatever time I can with family on this day.
When it all settled down in evening, me & wifey decided to go for a short drive on my Activa to a nearby area. Elder daughter said no, she wanted to play. Hence left her in society play area with her friends & the younger one rode along with us. On my way realized that my elder daughter's cycle's seat needs replacement. Drove to a known shop, which has surprisingly shut its operation. No option drive back home. Took a longer route to return.

I had my younger daughter with us which was pillion with my wife. She is hyperactive, specially on two wheeler. We failed to realize when did the cell phone slipped from my wife's hand. Don;t ask me why was the phone in her hand with daughter; instead of in the storage area of Activa.

We stopped at a place to buy some fruits, when it clicked us that mobile was gone. No clues where & when . Frantically looked in the nearest possible areas, but with no success. It rang for some 10-15 minutes, when we tried to call & check if some good Samaritan picks up & returns it. I even dropped a message on it that I am ready to pay a handsome amount if you return it. it stopped ringing & then went out of coverage area. We knew it was gone.

A police officer was standing at a mutton shop near by & came to us, to help.
All police officers (as I am told) have "find my device app"installed to track lost phone location if phone is still on & in network. It uses google's services which a normal person can do as well. Will explain down below. But it was switched off by then & we lost all hopes. Decided to lodge a police complain at least.

The following may be specific to Pune/PCMC area only. And is important.

When we reached police station, an officer sitting at the complain room rudely turned us away & told "log a complaint on pcpc.government.in" in lost and found section.

We reached home & realized it is PCPC.GOV.IN. {Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner's website.}
Looked for lost & found section. This is at the bottom of the web page.
Browsed to the page & entered all the details.
these are the details required to fill in.

• Report type : Lost Item report. You can also report if you find something here.
  Article type : Electronic device. You can also report lost DL, Passport, Aadhar, PAN, Ration card, Educational Documents here.
  Police station: I selected Wakad. All PCMC poli station are in the drop dow.
  Time when you lost it.
  Place where you lost it.
  Email ID & Contact Number along with address & Pin Code.
  Your Aadhar # (Not Mandatory), all other fields are.
  Last field is Item description : I put IMEI there. Basically to have a unique Identification for this.

Screenshot Below:


Once filled with all details, input captcha and submit.

Your request will be submitted and an acknowledgement will be generated. You have to download it & keep it. Will be used in next step, hence required.

We need to check similar facility if available online for other cities. Else we may have to go traditional ways of logging complaint manually at Police station. However, scanned copy of actual report logged at any police station can be used in-stead in next steps.

This is what the complaint looked for me:
.

I knew only this much till now. However further investigation led me to a portal called CEIR: "Central Equipment Identity Register".
EDIT: I reaslised, the infor about CEIR is also available on one of the threads in Team-BHP as well.

Got to know that CEIR was launched for public use somewhere last year. Earlier only Police used it from their credentials for logging such complaints. I also figured that one of my friends recovered his mobile, when police logged complaint from this website. However it took five months & mobile was recovered from some other state. His was a theft case though, not a lost case as mine.

OK: Moving ahead.
Before I found CEIR, I was using Google's services to block, locate & whatever I could do for my mobile.
Google does offers you to track and take few steps for your lost android devices:
Few snipps for these steps:



However, all these steps are futile:
> If your phone is not in network
> Or it is not connected to any Wi-FI for Google to contact it.

Mine were above both scenarios. Hence all efforts went in vein. Google could only update "Trying to connect to your phone".

[saurabh2711]

--Intentionally moving to another post, as this process will be common for all--

After giving up all hopes of Google to help us in some way, we were hell bend to use all possible ways to track it that we could find.
This is where we found CEIR:

https://ceir.gov.in/Home/index.jsp

Central Equipment Identity Register. Facility for blocking & tracing of lost Mobiles.
This portal is open for public use. Currently on Pilot in Maharashtra & Delhi only. Having said that we got to know that MP Police is also using some similar service to track lost mobiles. Phones are recovered from Rajasthan & Some from as far as Bihar till date.
Did some browsing on the website & found that Only Maharashtra & Delhi have the details of all police stations in the drop-down. For all other states, the dropdowns are marked as "Default". However, this does not stops you from logging a complain & generate an acknowledgement for Lost phone blocking.

As it is evident that the only way to track your lost mobile is, tracking the IMEI number by the service providers and only way this can be done is by Authorities such as Police & others; this seems a logical approach.

This is how the website looks: Look at the red square at bottom left to "Block Lost or Stolen Mobile"


This website also tells you to verify validity of a mobile you are about to purchase (New or old), by sending an SMS or by App. Refer screenshots below:


OK, Sticking to what I did & steps required to log a complain.
Clicked on red square to block lost/stolen mobile: I landed on this page:



Pre-Requisite: You need to have the same SIM re-issued with you, that was in the phone when it was lost.
Reason for this is that: the OTP to register this complaint will be delivered to the original number which was lost with phone. Some background verification, to authenticate your request.

Mobile store which was to re-issue us the SIM was closed for the day & we waited till next day to have SIM in our hand.
Another Problem: Some service providers block SMS transactions (in/out) for first 24 hrs on new SIM to avoid any fraudulent transactions on lost SIM & Phone. Had to wait till 12th March 12PM for our SMS services to resume. As i was not able to receive OTP from this portal during entire period.

Once SMS Services resumed I logged into portal to complete all formalities.

NOW: Logging the Complaint
This Page Requires:
Section 1:

1: Mobile #1 : Mandatory - This is where you receive OTP & was the number lost with phone.
2: Mobile #2 : Optional - this could have also been in the phone when lost.
3: IMEI #1 # IMEI#2 : These are optional, but better to give it, if you have them handy. IF your number is correct, Police will track your IMEI from the service provider & track it.
4: Your Phone's Brand - Mandatory
5: Device Model : Optional
6: Upload Bill/Invoice : optional

Section 2: Lost Information
1: Lost Place : Mandatory
2: Lost Time : Mandatory
3: State : Mandatory
4: District : Mandatory
5: Police Complaint # : Mandatory " Got this from PDF downloaded from PCPC.GOV.IN.
6: Upload Police Complaint : This is where complaint PDF on PCPC.GOV.IN was uploaded. Others can scan & upload the complain they registered in Police station.


Section 3: Mobile Owner Personal Information
1: Name : Mandatory
2: Address : Mandatory
3: Upload Identity : Mandatory - Aadhar, PAN, Voter ID, DL etc can be uploaded.
4: Identity Number : : Mandatory - ID# of the document uploaded in step 3.
5: email id: Optional - Better you provide it, as they drop an email with complaint number at last.
6: Mobile Number for OTP : Auto populated from "Mobile 1 from Section 1".

Check the declaration "All info is true & I will be held responsible if found wrong".
Click Get OTP.

Once you receive OTP, enter it in Verify OTP Section, which is enable automatically after get OTP is clicked. OTP Is valid only for Five Minutes.

Done. New page with confirmation is displayed with all info you shared. Mobile gets blocked in 24 hours. IMEI is put on tracking for new SIM installation.




If you do not know your IMEI of lost phone (bills/box all lost & no backup at any place): This is how you can find out:

Under Security tab of your Google Account look for this:


Click on "Find a Lost Device".
this is the next page:


Select the device which is lost: Mine is Nokia 6:
On Next page, of all the options Click "Locate"



On Next Page: Click on the "i"

There you go, you have the IMEI.




Google does gives you lot of other options such as track, lock, erase etc for the lost phone. But they all need phone to be online in someway. Which I do not think, anyone will leave it that way after deciding "not to return". Hence mostly useless.

If only Google can start, tracking IMEI's, just like police do: It will be lot more easier to track.
Say for example : I log a complain with Google as well. Google knows, how long I have been using it. Share all details, including Police complaint. They verify & approve it & drop me an email with Email account, Phone number & location of the new person who is using it.
But i don't know, how feasible it is.

THE CEIR homepage also allows me to unlock my phone once found & which was blocked by steps explained above.
Use the greed box instead of the red box.

I am waiting for my phone to come back soon & I can update this thread with "How to Unlock".
But for the reference, this is how it looks:



This is he status of my request as on 16th March, 11 AM..
"Accepted for Blocking". Not sure what are the next steps, but once traced I may get an update. May be called on the number I gave, if found to handover.(touchwood)


Though I have ~0, hopes of my mobile being found & returned; I only hope that this website works the way it is projected. And my mobile is at least blocked from further use. I do not see any sense in picking up someone's cellphone & not returning it, if you have to keep it locked at home.

However, if this system works & I get my phone back or at least blacklisted on all Carriers ; this is great. Will be more than happy.

I hope & pray: Nobody is required to visit CEIR website ever. However, God Forbid you are in the same boat as I am : I hope this information can help you in easily logging the complaint.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Gadgets Section. Thanks for sharing!

[ashwinprakas]

I hope y'all have the habit of locking your device with a passcode/pattern, reason for the same is that even if someone tried to hard format or reflash your phone it'd still be locked down by Google.

I'm not a fan of locking down my phones but my university mail ID is configured with Google and requires me to have a lock enabled for it to function, so I was forced to lock my phone.

How this helped me was a month ago someone swiped my phone and turned it off to not be traced, I'd immediately taken a duplicate sim as Jio and surprisingly BSNL has a relatively hassle free process when it comes to it.

Anyhow I'd locked down my phone on "Find my device" and the following night receive a frantic call from someone who seemed to have "mistakenly" got hold of my phone, I was able to collect the same the following day as well.

Now some tampering was obviously present and his tale of how he got my phone was absolute bogus cause you simply do not mistake a smartphone for a feature phone and especially one twice its width and size AND of a different color, just saying.

So once again, do make it a habit to lock your phones.

Cheers,
A.P.

[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by saurabh2711

I had my younger daughter with us which was pillion with my wife. She is hyperactive, specially on two wheeler. We failed to realize when did the cell phone slipped from my wife's hand.

Forget about the stolen phone, why were you riding triple on a two wheeler? And your wife was holding the phone instead of the grab rail? This is dangerous riding. Please ride/drive safe first before worrying about other things.

[saurabh2711]

Originally Posted by CarNerd

.. why were you riding triple on a two wheeler? And your wife was holding the phone instead of the grab rail? ..

Thanks for your lessons.

Ignore my signature, just relate to this: how will a person with a two wheeler and this family size will travel.

I was driving the same way a couple with a toddler rides. My daughter is 21 months old, if that answers your first question.

PS: we were with our helmets on our heads, if that further satiates you.

I have already, mentioned: "Don't ask me why the phone was in her hand in-stead of the storage area of Activa." .

Hope you understand that "Home minister", always has the last say.. . I am no different.

[dextor]

Almost decade back I have worked on CEIR software and simple idea is to put registered device in black list - the IMEI number of the device is marked as blocked. CEIR is like a database which is maintained by one central agency of the country & all the operators should refer to that.
So when a thief tries to use the stolen phone by inserting another SIM, the IMEI is detected by operator as blacklisted & he does not allow SIM to connect.

Few points to note -
1. CEIR does not allow stolen mobile to be tracked. Only police can do that & that too if FIR is registered. Else no one cares. Complaint without FIR is of no use.

2. If all operators are not registered for CEIR, the thief might still be able to use the phone.

3. Other issue in India is, we do not know if CEIR server of India is synced with international server. If not, the phone can be used outside India.

4. There are softwares (as well as professionals) in market who can easily modify the IMEI of some devices.

5. Some stolen mobiles are used for extracting spares and selling.

[am1m]

I find these new smartphones really difficult to carry. Almost all of them are huge!

My wife bought one of those for me two years ago for my birthday. I've already had to replace the screen twice because it slipped out of my hand. And this is even though I have a mobile case. Finally had enough. Started using an old phone a couple of months ago. The large one stays at home or in my laptop bag at work. Am very happy, don't miss the new phone at all except for the significantly better mobile camera. The unexpected advantage is that since I've not re-installed all the social media apps on the old phone, I've successfully managed to restrict the time I spend on whatsapp and insta!

[EVMAN]

Thanks Saurabh, Last week my FIL lost his less than month old mobile. We have lodged a FIR but we did not knew about CEIR. I will visit them during the weekend and defiantly register the details in CEIR. There is zero hope of recovery but it will feel better to know we have blocked the IMEI no sense the device.

[ariesonu]

Though I sympathise with your loss but in your entire POST, you have nowhere played HOLI, neither anyone has thrown any color or water balloon on you and due to which, you LOST your phone.
In fact, this could have happened on your MIDDLE EAST weekend or any other day.

Hence I dont think that you mentioning COSTLIEST HOLI EVER PLAYED and blaming a festival. which by your own admission you didnt even play, is simply UNCALLED for.

MODS: Pls correct the TITLE as it does NOT justify what the OP wants to highlight.

Regards-SS

[CarNerd]

Originally Posted by saurabh2711

Thanks for your lessons.

Ignore my signature, just relate to this: how will a person with a two wheeler and this family size will travel.

I was driving the same way a couple with a toddler rides. My daughter is 21 months old, if that answers your first question.

PS: we were with our helmets on our heads, if that further satiates you.

I don't intend to teach any lessons to anyone. I Know that people riding with kids/toddlers is common in India but that's illegal & dangerous. Wearing helmets doesn't make your toddler safe. As per the new Motor Vehicle Act, a child or toddler can be considered a third rider and challan can be issued. Why take a risk?

[Stribog]

Originally Posted by saurabh2711

Thanks for your lessons.

Ignore my signature, just relate to this: how will a person with a two wheeler and this family size will travel.

I was driving the same way a couple with a toddler rides. My daughter is 21 months old, if that answers your first question.

PS: we were with our helmets on our heads, if that further satiates you.

I have already, mentioned: "Don't ask me why the phone was in her hand in-stead of the storage area of Activa." .

Hope you understand that "Home minister", always has the last say.. . I am no different.

Not to preach but please please avoid this mode. We almost lost my sis when she was a toddler, when she was distracted jumped out of my mom's hands on a normally busy road, my mom went all Jonty Rhodes to catch her age fractured her hand in the process. This was decades ago but such a thing is still possible. That though was the last time anyone in my family rode three on a 2 wheeler.

Strongly urge you take at least uber auto.