A caution for used cellphone dealers

Visit — www.lostandfoundvspcity.com — to establish veracity of the piece. There are 100 such shops from I Town to IV Town police station limits. And the owners were urged to collect details such as PAN number, ration card number from people who come to sell their product.

Two years ago, a 19-year-old girl had gone missing from the limits of the IV Town police station. Tracking the IMEI number of the girl’s cellphone, the police went to a shop trading in used cellphones. But the shop owner was not able to recollect who sold it.

“Had the shop owner taken details, we would have got some clue. Unfortunately, the girl is still untraceable,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) S. Varada Raju. The case was discussed at a meeting organised by the Crime Department to create awareness among the shop owners.

There are 100 such shops from I Town to IV Town police station limits. And the owners were urged to collect details such as PAN number, ration card number from people who come to sell their product.

“Many of the cellphones are stolen ones, and unless some details are collected, the purchaser is likely to land himself in an embarrassing situation,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) J. Muralidhar. The DCP urged the shop owners to also maintain a register for such sales and visit the ‘lostandfound’ website being maintained by the Crime Department.

The ADCP cautioned purchasers and insisted that they check veracity of the piece on the website www.lostandfound vspcity.com . “Cellphones play a major role in investigation and it is safe check or collect some details,” said ACP (East Sub-Division) D.N. Mahesh.

With the advent of cellphones, the modus operandi of persons involved in flesh trade has changed. They attract customers through ads in various classified sites on the Internet, and the entire deal is struck on the cellphone. “And that is what makes them elusive or difficult to nab,” said a senior police officer.

“Tracking a cellphone is like searching for a needle in a haystack. And it is even more difficult when the operators keep shifting their location and changing the SIM cards on a regular basis,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) M. Srinivasulu. Recently, an operator was caught running a racket at a posh locality in Seethamma- dhara, and he confessed that the entire business was being run through cellphone, pan-India.