210 phones stolen daily in Delhi, but only 1 in 10 recovered: Why tracking iPhones and smartphones is so hard

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 inDelhi’s Alaknanda.

“I was very upset,” said Ahmed.

“My son had just turned 21.

I was excited to give him the phone.”
When he tried to get the phone back, he hit a wall.

“I’m a lawyer.

I deal with the system every day.

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 18 responses to RTIs filed by TheIndian 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.

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.

“We get different types of locations when tracing calls.

A type, B type and C type.

If calls have been made from the phone, we get an A type location — which is precise.

If no calls have been made, and only Internet has been used from the phone, we get a C type location — which shows a possible 800-m to 1-km radius where the phone could be placed.

And the accused keep moving, which makes it extremely difficult,” the officer said.

The cyber police officer also said 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.

Nirbhay Thakur is a Senior Correspondent with The Indian Express who primarily covers district courts in Delhi and has reported on the trials of many high-profile cases since 2023.

Professional Background
Education: Nirbhay is an economics graduate from Delhi University.

Beats: His reporting spans the trial courts, and he occasionally interviews ambassadors and has a keen interest in doing data stories.

Specializations: He has a specific interest in data stories related to courts.

Core Strength: Nirbhay is known for tracking long-running legal sagas and providing meticulous updates on high-profile criminal trials.

Recent notable articles
In 2025, he has written long form articles and two investigations.

Along with breaking many court stories, he has also done various exclusive stories.

1) A long form on Surender Koli, accused in the Nithari serial killings of 2006.

He was acquitted after spending 2 decades in jail.

was a branded man.

Deemed the “cannibal" who allegedly lured children to his employer’s house in Noida, murdered them, and “ate their flesh” – his actions cited were cited as evidence of human depravity at its worst.

However, the SC acquitted him finding various lapses in the investigation.

The Indian Express spoke to his lawyers and traced the 2 decades journey.

2) For decades, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been at the forefront of the Government’s national rankings, placed at No.

2 over the past two years alone.

It has also been the crucible of campus activism, its protests often spilling into national debates, its student leaders going on to become the faces and voices of political parties of all hues and thoughts.

The Indian Express looked at all court cases spanning over two decades and did an investigation.

3) Investigation on the 700 Delhi riots cases.

The Indian Express found that in 17 of 93 acquittals (which amounted to 85% of the decided cases) in Delhi riots cases, courts red-flag ‘fabricated’ evidence and pulled up the police.

Signature Style
Nirbhay’s writing is characterized by its procedural depth.

He excels at summarizing 400-page chargesheets and complex court orders into digestible news for the general public.

X (Twitter): @Nirbhaya99...

Read More
Stay updated with the latest -Click here to follow us on Instagram