Man loses iPhone 13, Xiaomi Civi 2 in Jama Masjid. Xiaomi's settings helped him retrieve both phones

Mohammed Shahrukh with his wife moments before the phones were stolen at Jama Masjid in Delhi. (Images: @techstarsrk/X)

A content creator from Patna recently revealed how the settings of his wife's Xiaomi Civi 2 phone helped him retrieve it and his iPhone 13 after both phones were stolen inside Delhi's Jama Masjid.

Mohammed Shahrukh shared that the incident had happened in 2023 and his carelessness also had a role to play in the phones being stolen.

"My wife and I went to Jama Masjid for iftar. The place was crowded due to the month of Ramadan. We had three phones with us: iPhone 13, Xiaomi Civi 2, and Redmi K50 Ultra," Shahrukh wrote on X. "My side bag has two chained pockets. In one pocket I had kept the iPhone and the Civi 2,

and in another pocket, I placed the Redmi K50 Ultra. While exiting from Jama Masjid Gate No. 1, I noticed that the chain of my side bag was open and when I checked both the phones were stolen."

The tech influencer admitted that he had ignored announcements requesting visitors to be careful with their belongings and be wary of thieves. He had also ignored his wife's advice to hold the bag in front of him or to hand it over to her.

This was the last photo I took before our Phone's got stolen.

Have to Say, The Crowd at Jama Masjid is the Worst Crowd I have ever seen in my Life. That's why I avoid going there after this incident. Few Lifestyle too got changed, Like Now I use Chest Bag instead of Side Bag. pic.twitter.com/tPeCw3iIs9 — Tech Star Shahrukh (@techstarsrk) April 22, 2024

"I was totally embarrassed," he said. "My wife started scolding me for my carelessness."

The couple did not receive much help from the guards either. But then Shahrukh thought of trying to use their third phone to try and locate the iPhone, but iCloud couldn't track the phone.

He thought the thieves must have switched the phone off or the network connectivity amid the crowd was poor. But when he called his wife's number, it rang.

"I kept ringing it while running around Jama Masjid to listen to the ringtone to catch the thief. At one point someone picked up and said 'I am just behind you...'. And then he disconnected the call. I tried again, but no one picked up. Then I remembered that I had done some settings in Xiaomi CIVI 2 and because of that the thieves couldn't turn off the smartphone and they couldn't even turn off data or put the phone in flight mode," he said.

The tech influencer then explained that there's a setting option in Xiaomi CIVI 2 called "Shutdown Confirmation" which requires a password from the user before turning the phone off and before putting it on flight mode. Shahrukh then managed to track the device using Xiaomi cloud and he found that it was still inside the Jama Masjid.

He then started to play sounds and alarms using the cloud service, hoping to late the thief in the crowd while the phone continued to ring. Soon, a person received his call and claimed that his phone was found near Gate no. 2.

The Xiaomi phone was still ringing when Shahrukh found the person holding both his phones. "He told me that he found my phone somewhere on the ground. I took my phone and thanked him and didn't question him much," he said, adding that now he carries his phone in a fanny pack that he wears across his chest rather than side bags.