Between January 2023 and May 2025, more than 26000 cellphones totaling Rs 62 crore were stolen from Mumbai Railway passengers.

According to data from the Government Railway Police (GRP), approximately 45% of the cases (11,853) were solved, and phones worth Rs 20 crore were recovered during this time period.

Key Highlights

• Over 26,000 mobile phones worth ₹62 crore were stolen on Mumbai’s rail network over 30 months.
• Police have recovered and plan to return approximately 500 stolen phones to rightful owners.

Last month, after new GRP commissioner Rakesh Kalasagar took charge, the department increased its efforts and recovered 500 stolen handsets. These phones will be returned to their owners during an event on Friday.

From drug addicts to organized gangs, investigators have apprehended a wide range of offenders over the years. The GRP's crime branch recently arrested a former health sciences student in possession of 21 stolen phones. Tufail Memon, 25, dropped out after completing his first year of health science. According to police, he was addicted to online gaming, and the need for money drove him to commit crimes.

In a separate case, the GRP apprehended a member of an interstate gang of thieves who stole phones on trains and struck at crowded events such as the Ganga Aarti in Varanasi and the Jagannath Yatra in Odisha to deprive visitors of their handsets.

"The gang would divide their loot into high-end phones and middle- or low-end ones. The high-end phones were shipped overseas for sale, while the remainder were sold locally to "receivers."These men could either disassemble the spare parts or refurbish the phones for resale in India, according to a police officer. Police continue to track stolen phones for months. A special cyber cell has been established at the GRP commissionerate to assist police stations in this task.

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"Whenever the buyer of a phone that has been refurbished and sold in this manner begins to use it, we search for his location and retrieve the phone," according to an officer. There have been reports that refurbished phones sold in Mumbai end up in Jharkhand, Bihar, or Rajasthan.

GRP teams have travelled across the country to recover stolen phones. Buyers have also been charged in cases where they intentionally purchased stolen phones.

Data from the GRP show that phone thefts decreased by 10%, from 12159 cases in 2023 to 10981 cases in 2024. "In some cases, low-income individuals purchase refurbished phones from major cities and transport them to their hometowns or give them to a family member in their hometown for use. Our advice is to always purchase a phone that comes in a sealed box and request a receipt," said the officer.