Selling your phone? Fill up this CPLC form first

CPLC introduces pro forma to help shopkeepers maintain data of cellphone sellers

KARACHI: As many as 34,137 mobile phones were stolen or snatched in Karachi last year, according to the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC). In an attempt to curtail the menace of snatchings and thefts, the CPLC, in collaboration with the police and the mobile markets' associations, has come up with a strategy.

The formula is very simple: any shopkeeper who sells used mobile phones will have to fill a pro forma issued by the CPLC before buying used phones from sellers. The pro forma requires complete details of the seller, including his name, father's name, address, CNIC number and mobile phones' International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.



"Before buying a used mobile phone from a customer, you [shopkeeper] must verify it from the CPLC helpline 1102 or call 35682222 to verify the phone's status - snatched, stolen or cleared," reads a copy of the CPLC pro forma obtained by The Express Tribune. "It is also compulsory for all shopkeepers to get a photocopy of a customer's CNIC before buying a used mobile phone."

It further reads that the shopkeeper will be responsible if he does not follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) and the phone is found to be stolen or snatched, adding that the shopkeeper will have to face Section 411 of the Pakistan Penal Code. He will also have to pay the actual cost of the phone to buyers if he sells any snatched or stolen mobile phone to them.

It is also necessary to get a contact number of the seller before buying any used mobile phone from him. Also, the shopkeeper is responsible to seize any mobile phone and inform the CPLC, Special Investigation Unit of the Karachi police and the market's association if it is found to have a criminal record in the CPLC database. The shopkeeper will have to maintain the record of all sold and purchased mobile phones.

"It is a part of the apex committee meeting's decisions to control street crimes, particularly the snatching and theft of mobile phones," CPLC chief Zubair Habib told The Express Tribune. "By doing this, we would be able to control the sale and purchase of snatched or stolen mobile phones. We will have to control such mobile phones' sale and purchase from Karachi to any other part of the country because such phones are usually sold and purchased from Karachi."



CPLC officials will also remain in touch with the markets' associations and shopkeepers for check and balance, said Habib. "We are not saying that by doing this we will be able to eliminate the sale and purchase of snatched and/or stolen mobile phones completely, but we will be able to control it as much as possible," he said. "It will definitely build pressure on the shopkeepers."

There are over 100 small and big mobile markets in the city with nearly 15,000 shops where thousands of used mobile phones are sold and purchased on a daily basis. The CPLC and the police have taken the mobile markets' associations on board in the decision. "We are with the CPLC and police in their efforts to control such criminal activities as no one in Karachi is safe from such crimes," said the president of Karachi Electronics Dealers Associations, Muhammad Rizwan. "It is also our responsibility to force the shopkeepers to follow the SOP." He added that the markets' associations will also send their men with used mobile phones to check if the shopkeepers follow the SOP or not.

According to CPLC data, 21,198 mobile phones were snatched while 20,442 were stolen in 2015. In 2016, a total of 34,137 mobile phones were either snatched or stolen across the city. "Until and unless the demand of such mobile phones does not end, this business will continue," said District South SSP Saqib Ismail Memon. "By stopping the demand, we would be able to stop the supply of such mobile phones."



Monthly report

Meanwhile, CPLC has also issued their monthly report on street crime in Karachi. According to the CPLC report, the citizens of Karachi have been deprived of 1,181 mobile phones in snatching, 1,441 mobile phones in theft, 20 four wheelers in snatching, 123 four wheelers if theft and 1,727 two-wheelers in theft. One case of kidnapping, seven cases of extortion, 31 killings and one case of bank robbery were also reported.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2017.