Last Sunday my roommate opened the door for our servant maid at 6AM. She usually
completes her work and leaves the house within 30 minutes. But we used to keep
the door unlocked after that, because it is a tough task to get up once again
to lock the door. So we did the same on that day.
I woke up by 8AM and I found my mobile, which I kept beside me last
night, was missing. If you think I’m living in a far..far..away village where
such kind of thefts happens usually, you are wrong. I’m living in an apartment,
which is just a km away from Hitec city, Hyderabad.
One of my teammates lost his mobile like this before five months. I heard
his story. But I thought that it would not happen to me. My roommate said that
he saw a stranger in our house two days before the theft. He enquired him. That
guy said that he was working in Satyam and he was looking for one of his
friends He said that he entered our house by mistake. My roommate was sleepy
and that stranger ringed the calling bell before he entered into our house. So
he did not suspect anything odd about that stranger and let him go.
When I heard this from my roommate, I just thought about my teammates
mobile theft. But I didn’t care much about that and later it proved I’m an
ignorant idiot.
The thief did not steal anything other than my mobile I kept
beside me. So I thought I kept my mobile somewhere else. I called my number and
found it switched off. Later somebody picked up the call and didn’t speak a
word. The thief ignored my further calls to my mobile and he switched off the
phone again. It confirmed that my mobile has been stolen.
Later I came to know from my friend that mostly Nokia and Sony
Ericsson phones are stolen, because of their resale value. My phone was Sony
Ericsson w550i. I bought it a year before for 16, 000
I called hutch customer care immediately and deactivated my SIM card. They said
that they could neither trace nor ban my mobile using IMEI number as they
didn’t have the rights to do that.
Then I went to the police station to file a complaint. Cops in madhapur police
station were cooperative. I submitted a written complaint to them. A cop came
with me to my apartment and did a formal inquiry with the security person and
our servant maid. Then he filed the complaint and gave me an acknowledgement.
He said, these kinds of thefts happen often and mostly people whom loose their
mobile are IT workers who live carefree life. Mostly the thieves are looking
for mobile phones, laptops and purses, he added.
After
this the process goes like this. Police sends the stolen mobile phones IMEI
numbers to mobile service providers. Service provider logs all their
connections IMEI number. If they found the stolen phone’s IMEI number, they
inform to the police. This is how the stolen mobiles are traced. Since there is
no centralized system for this, stolen phones cannot be found if it is used in
some other states. So prevention is better than cure.
So, Don’t be careless. Keep your doors locked. Make sure you lock your doors
when you sleep, especially in weekends. It doesn’t matter whether it is daytime
or nighttime. My teammate’s mobile was stolen during afternoon.
Make sure that you have noted your mobile’s IMEI number. Take a backup of all your contacts, you can save it in your pc/notebook
using phone softwares.Hutch offers a cool facility, you can save all
your contacts in the Hutch’s server.Keep your laptops and
mobiles at safe place. I had kept my mobile beside me on my bed because I used
my mobile as an alarm clock. After this incident, I have bough an alarm
clock :)
* If
you have lost your mobile
1**. Don’t panic, you might have kept it somewhere and forgot
it. So search for it first.
2. If you are sure that your mobile has been stolen, first call the customer
care to ban your SIM card otherwise the thief may misuse it and you will end up
paying huge bill amount.
3**. Complain about the theft at nearby police station. This is a simple process
you will need to submit a written complaint and get the acknowledgement. Police
will take care of the rest. Incase if you have insured your mobile and you want
to claim the insurance money, make sure you get the FIR copy from police.
In written complaint, You need to mention how and where it was stolen,
whom do you suspect, your address, stolen mobile number, alternate contact
number, mobile make details, IMEI number etc. Police will come and inquire
at your place before filing your complaint.
You need to mention your complaint or FIR number for further
communications with police. They will inform you, if they have found your mobile.
Hope I will get my mobile. Nonetheless I have bought a new mobile and learned a
lesson. Remember Prevention is better than cure.