Mobile phone's role in cracking crimes gets bigger

Jisha Surya

T'Puram, October 5: The ubiquitous mobile phone has became a reliable friend of the cops. The number of crime mysteries solved with the help of mobile phones are on a rise. Tracking suspects' mobile phone often lead to the right path, cops believe.

Though Hi-Tech cell is entrusted with the task of solving cyber crimes such as hacking, sending of pornographic mails, obscene messages etc, the cell also assist other departments in cracking murder and man missing cases by tracking the suspect's mobile phone. “Last year, the assistance sought by various police stations was 521. This year, till September, as many as 362 cases came up,” said N Vinayakumaran Nair, AC HiTech Cell. The number might be even high as police have started approaching the district branches of cyber cell.

The police can track the location and contact details of a suspect unless he switch off or destroy his mobile phone. “Even if he/she changes the SIM, we could track them using the IMV number,” he said. The phone number of suspects and their relatives too will be closely monitored.

Hi-Tech cell was instrumental in solving many controversial cases like the Periya Bank Robbery, V B Unnithan case, Varkala DHRM cases etc. “For the Periya Bank robbery case alone, we had tracked more than 170 mobile phones. Recently, an actor got a threatening call. When we traced the number, the suspect was found to have contacted an unknown number before and after the call. The actor identified it as his friend's number. The actor's friend, who had business revelry with him, approached a goon to threaten him. The case was cracked within no time,” Vinayakumaran Nair said.

“During the Cheriyartura riot, we tracked the calls from a tower for a time period of almost two hour. It was a tedious process. Sometimes we have to follow every suspicious phones,” he added. It would be difficult for the HiTech cell if the culprit is operating from outside the country using the facilities such as VoIP.

While credit goes to the investigation officers, the role of HiTech cell often fail to come into the fore. “But that's okay. If the cell gets much publicity, criminals will be aware of the use of mobile phones. They might switch off or destroy it,” he said.

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