Nagpur: Nabbing of two minors, aged 15 and 17 years of age, by a team of Kotwali police station from Ram Coolers Square on Thursday unearthed a shocking truth of Jharkhand minors joining mobile phone theft racket with nationwide network for a salary of Rs8,000 . Around 18 mobile phones, including 13 iPhones, worth more than Rs6 lakh were recovered from the duo.
Following the complaints of several citizens, Kotwal police team under sub-inspector Navnath Deokate and his team were patrolling the area adjoining Shraddha Farsan shop when they noticed two minors, appearing to be students with school bags on shoulder, loitering amid the busy buyers of kites and manja
“The two had empty plastic bags in their hands. It was intriguing why someone would move around with plastic bags without anything. We asked them to show their bags and the plastic and were surprised to see high-end mobile phones in their possession,” said Devkate, who is also the in-charge of the detection branch wing of the Kotwali police station.
“We had already received a tip-off that minors use plastic bags to steal phones. They place them deftly on the shirt pockets of their victims to cover their act and similarly on the jeans’ pocket before lifting the phones from them,” said Devkate.
Devkate said the minors, natives of Sahebganj district in Jharkhand and Bihar borders, are early school dropouts. “They claimed to have joined a racket which paid them Rs8,000 salary for stealing or lifting mobile phones. Irrespective of how many mobile phones they steal or lift, they still get their fixed salary after handing over the stolen handsets to someone they refer to as ‘mama’,” he said. The minors were not cooperating with the police to divulge many details about the ‘mama’ who took the cellphones away with him, said cops.
Devkate, based on the interrogations, stated the minors belonged to the place where the socio-economic condition is such that most youngsters are into criminal activities and thefts. “The two minors had come with a gang and were staying at a rented apartment at Ajri Panjri in Yashodhara Nagar. Separate buddy pairs visit different localities and choose crowded places like the ‘nasta points’ (snacks outlets) and railway station’s reservation counters to target their victims,” said Devkate, who worked under senior PI Mukund Thakre and inspector Arvind Pawar.
Devkate, whose team comprised head constable Ravikant Kate, Keshav Paradkar, Vishal Bhoyar, Harish Chandankhede and others, worked under the guidance of zonal DCP Gorakh Kumbhar. “The minors’ gang never kept anything in their den but separate gangs carried the stolen handsets with them so that their entire booty is not seized by the cops in case one of them is nabbed. We too searched their den but nothing was found and the rest fled too sensing police action on their gang,” said Devkate. He added that the minors landed in Nagpur only a fortnight ago. “We feel the gang goes around the country on a rotation basis,” said Devkate. He added that the minors were handed over to the railway police after they were found to have stolen a mobile handset from someone at the railway reservation counters at the Itwari railway station.
Following the complaints of several citizens, Kotwal police team under sub-inspector Navnath Deokate and his team were patrolling the area adjoining Shraddha Farsan shop when they noticed two minors, appearing to be students with school bags on shoulder, loitering amid the busy buyers of kites and manja
“The two had empty plastic bags in their hands. It was intriguing why someone would move around with plastic bags without anything. We asked them to show their bags and the plastic and were surprised to see high-end mobile phones in their possession,” said Devkate, who is also the in-charge of the detection branch wing of the Kotwali police station.
“We had already received a tip-off that minors use plastic bags to steal phones. They place them deftly on the shirt pockets of their victims to cover their act and similarly on the jeans’ pocket before lifting the phones from them,” said Devkate.
Devkate said the minors, natives of Sahebganj district in Jharkhand and Bihar borders, are early school dropouts. “They claimed to have joined a racket which paid them Rs8,000 salary for stealing or lifting mobile phones. Irrespective of how many mobile phones they steal or lift, they still get their fixed salary after handing over the stolen handsets to someone they refer to as ‘mama’,” he said. The minors were not cooperating with the police to divulge many details about the ‘mama’ who took the cellphones away with him, said cops.
Devkate, based on the interrogations, stated the minors belonged to the place where the socio-economic condition is such that most youngsters are into criminal activities and thefts. “The two minors had come with a gang and were staying at a rented apartment at Ajri Panjri in Yashodhara Nagar. Separate buddy pairs visit different localities and choose crowded places like the ‘nasta points’ (snacks outlets) and railway station’s reservation counters to target their victims,” said Devkate, who worked under senior PI Mukund Thakre and inspector Arvind Pawar.
Devkate, whose team comprised head constable Ravikant Kate, Keshav Paradkar, Vishal Bhoyar, Harish Chandankhede and others, worked under the guidance of zonal DCP Gorakh Kumbhar. “The minors’ gang never kept anything in their den but separate gangs carried the stolen handsets with them so that their entire booty is not seized by the cops in case one of them is nabbed. We too searched their den but nothing was found and the rest fled too sensing police action on their gang,” said Devkate. He added that the minors landed in Nagpur only a fortnight ago. “We feel the gang goes around the country on a rotation basis,” said Devkate. He added that the minors were handed over to the railway police after they were found to have stolen a mobile handset from someone at the railway reservation counters at the Itwari railway station.
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