Mobile phone dealers in Karachi, working with the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and police, have helped recover 3,386 stolen, snatched and missing phones over the past ten years, with a further 231 handsets handed over in the latest batch, ProPakistani reported.
The recovered devices are worth more than Rs285 million (Rs28.5 crore), while the latest batch alone is valued at around Rs5 million.
Under the arrangement between the Karachi Electronic Dealers Association (KEDA), CPLC and local police, dealers check phones brought in by customers for resale against CPLC records. If a handset is flagged, it is handed over to the authorities, and the seller is informed that the phone has been reported stolen.
KEDA President Rizwan Irfan said around 20 suspects have also been detained by dealers and the association over the years.
The report noted that large numbers of stolen phones are still sold through informal markets and smuggled across the borders with Afghanistan and Iran.
