THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ubiquitous mobile phone has become a reliable friend of the cops. The number of crime mysteries solved with the help of mobile phones are on the rise. Tracking suspects’ mobile phones often lead to the right path, cops believe. Though HiTech Cell is entrusted with the task of solving cyber crimes such as hacking, sending of pornographic mails, obscene messages etc, the Cell also assists other departments in cracking murder and man-missing cases by tracking the suspects’ mobile phones.“Last year, various police stations sought assistance 521 times. 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 the Cyber Cell.The police can track the location and contact details of a suspect unless he switches off or destroys his mobile phone. “Even if he/she changes the SIM, we could track them using the IMEI 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 such as 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 rivalry with him, approached a goon to threaten him. The case was cracked within no time,” Vinayakumaran Nair said.While the credit goes to the investigating officers, the role of HiTech Cell often fails to come to limelight. “But that’s okay. If the Cell gets much publicity, criminals will become aware of the use of mobile phones. They might switch off or destroy it,” he said. ‘’During the Cheriyarthura riot, we tracked the calls from a tower for a time period of almost two hours. 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. Just as mobile phones became an essential part of our daily life, it has become a gadget of immense help to the police in cracking crimes and missing cases.
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