On November 25 last year, advocate Anzar Ahmed (53) was on his way home when he checked his pocket to make a call — only to find a hollow space. Unbeknownst to him, the sleek iPhone which he had got as a gift for his 21-year-old son had allegedly been stolen by a biker near Tara Apartments in Delhi’s Alaknanda.
“I was very upset,” said Ahmed. “I was excited to give my son the phone.”
When he tried to get the phone back, he hit a wall.
“At first, we were told that the jurisdiction [to file the case] would fall at some other police station. We went to three police stations. Finally, we were able to lodge a complaint at Govindpuri station,” said the advocate, who lives in Tughlakabad Extension.
“It has been months now. I’ve gone to the police station three times to get the same response… that my phone could not be traced,” he said.
Ahmed’s story is not an outlier as the recovery of stolen phones in Delhi is rather dismal.
Data collated from responses to 18 RTIs filed by The Indian Express, received from police districts across the Capital, reveals a huge gap between the number of phones stolen in 2025 and the number of phones recovered during the same period.
From January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026, the data shows that 76,811 phones were stolen in Delhi. This translates to about 210 phones every day. And, data shows, just 8,749 or 11% were recovered. (see box)
In the Northwest district, as per the RTI data, 8,474 phones were snatched — an average of 23 per day — in 2025. Just 5% found their way back to their owners. At IGI Airport police district on the other hand, data shows less than 500 phones were snatched in 2025 and about a quarter were recovered.
The main reasons behind this? Police pointed to snatchers immediately throwing away SIMs after a theft, and breaking up the phones in parts as well as the phones crossing borders. Also, even if location of the phone is traced, it’s seldom precise, they said.
Data on the Sanchar Saathi App portal shows that Delhi had an overall recovery rate of 3.81% — with just over 22,000 mobile phones finding their way to their owners. On the other hand, 9.37 lakh mobile phones were blocked, and 5.94 lakh traced.
The Sanchar Saathi app allows IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) tracking and blocking of lost or stolen phones anywhere in India. It assists police authorities in tracing stolen or lost devices. It also helps verify the number of mobile connections and helps flag suspicious connections. In Delhi, only 9.03 lakh people are using the application.
Why is Delhi failing to track devices equipped with GPS and IMEI numbers?
A cyber police official explained the problem. “One of the major issues with tracking stolen phones is that they are dismantled swiftly. On the black market, separate parts fetch a higher amount than the phone itself as they can be re-sold to repair shops. So snatchers immediately throw away SIMs and break the phones into parts.”
Another senior officer said even if the phone’s location is traced, it’s seldom precise.
The senior officer said, “We get different types of locations when tracing calls – A type, E type and C type. If calls have been made from the phone, we get a A type location, which about 10-14 m from where the phone is located. But if no call has been made, and only Internet has been used from the phone, we get a C type location, which shows a 150 m to 200 m radius where the phone could be. Also, the accused keep moving, which makes it extremely difficult to trace the phones.”
In case of E type location, the phone could be located anywhere within 20-40 m of the given location, police said.
A cyber police officer maintained that even if phones are tracked over a long period of time, they often end up crossing borders. “The phones are smuggled to Nepal and Bangladesh in bulk from India. Once they cross, it’s impossible to track them. These phones are also used to execute cyber scams, and then dumped immediately,” the officer said.
“It also depends on the tower location of the SIM company. For example, Jio gives very accurate locations. Also, the phone needs to rest in an area for about 35-40 minutes for it to give a precise A type location.”
A worrying trend, especially in the past year, has been ‘SIM SWAP’.
“Snatchers take out the SIM from the stolen phone and put it in another device. They call service providers as the owner of the SIM, and convince them to transfer the number to a new SIM card they own. They then use that SIM card to generate OTPs, open payments apps, change passwords and transfer money,” a cyber police officer said.
The officer added that enabling two-factor authentication on apps is the least users can do to ensure privacy in case of a theft. “Also, people who use Apple devices should never turn off the ‘find my device’ feature. It’s a huge help in tracing phones.”
Data on the Sanchar Saathi App portal shows that Delhi had an overall recovery rate of 3.81% — with just over 22,000 mobile phones finding their way to their owners. (Source: Pexels) 
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