Colvale police arrested Chayyel Mondal, 22, a native of West Bengal and waiter at a Mapusa restaurant, for stealing 13 mobile phones valued at Rs 2.4 lakh. The stolen devices were traced through the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal, a telecom database that tracks lost or stolen phones using IMEI numbers.
The investigation began when a missing phone was reported stolen from Dattaprasad Petrol Pump in Colvale in May. The phone was recovered from Kuldeep Mahato, a Jharkhand native working as a cook in the same Mapusa restaurant. Mahato revealed that he had bought the phone from Mondal.
During questioning, Mondal admitted to stealing the phones. Initially arrested after five phones were found in his possession, police later recovered an additional eight phones from him. Authorities are now investigating to identify any accomplices and other sources of the stolen devices.
Colvale PI Sanjit Kandolkar confirmed that the probe continues under ASI Anil Pilgaonkar. The use of CEIR played a crucial role in tracking and recovering the stolen phones.
