KARACHI, Jan 9: Theft and snatching of cellphones in Karachi almost doubled during the past year as 99,505 phones were taken away in 2007. As many as 52,799 phones had either been stolen or snatched in 2006.

Figures collated by Dawn from the police and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee also showed that phone thefts and snatching increased almost 315 per cent in the rest of the country during the year under review.

According to the CPLC, as many as 10,184 cellphones had been stolen and snatched in the rest of the country in 2006, while the number swelled to 42,268 in 2007.

CPLC chief Sharafuddin Memon told Dawn that there was a sharp increase in the reporting of incidents of mobile phone stealing and snatching since the launch of the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity Number) system to tackle the menace. “Still, only 70 per cent of incidents are being reported,” he said.He said around 171,551 out of the total reported stolen or snatched 215,400 handsets countrywide had so far been blocked by the mobile phone companies. “Of them, 139,763 were blocked on the complaints of the CPLC and the remaining on the complaints of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority,” he added.

Complaints could be registered at CPLC Nos 568-2222 and 568-3333, said Mr Memon, adding that the CPLC forwarded the complaints to the PTA, which forwarded the IMEI number to all mobile operators and they immediately blocked the stolen or snatched mobile handsets using the number, which can be accessed by dialling *#06# from the mobile set.He said the blocking system was very effective and as many as 10,528 stolen or snatched mobile handsets were recovered and deposited at the CPLC. “We have handed over 9,524 phones to their owners and 1,004 are to be handed over,” he added.

However, sources said software was available in the market for tampering with the IMEI. They said that no legal action could be taken against those tampering with the number as there was no law to deal with such cases.

The sources said most of the stolen and snatched mobile handsets were being smuggled out to other countries including Afghanistan and Iran.

Of the total number of cellphones stolen from different parts of Karachi in 2007, 26,255 cellphones were snatched during armed hold-ups and 73,250 were stolen.

Saddar Town proved to be heaven for mobile phone thieves as they took away over 7,000 mobile handsets from the area while in Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town, 7,070 sets were taken away, followed by Jamshed Quarters (4,664) Clifton (4,033), Liaquatabad (3,221), North Nazimabad (3,052), Korangi (2,879), Landhi (2,876), Shah Faisal Colony (2,812) and Gulberg (2,767).

The data shows that Nokia was the most sought after brand for the cellphone robbers who took away as many as 60,464 (60.8 per cent) handsets of the brand during the year under review. The other brands were Sony-Ericsson (15,484 or 15.6 per cent), Samsung (9,224 or 9.39 per cent), Motorola (7,718 or 7.8 per cent), LG (4,143 or 4.2 per cent), Siemens (237), Trend (188), BlackBerry (67), Thomson (129), i-mate (181) and 1,670 handsets of other brands.