The Gautam Buddha Nagar police Monday busted a gang of mobile phone thieves who were active in Noida and Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, Ashok Nagar, and other adjacent areas and recovered 19 mobile phones from their possession, officials said.
The police have arrested six accused identified as Nitin, Bhanu, Sunil, Manoj, Roshan, and Sunil (owner of Tanu Telecom shop).
“Five among the arrested are mobile phone thieves and one person is a mobile shop owner, who used to buy the stolen gadgets at around 30 percent of the original price. During interrogation, they confessed to stealing hundreds of mobile phones. We are checking from where these 19 phones were stolen,” said ADCP (Noida) Ashutosh Dwivedi.
Elaborating on their modus operandi, the officer said that the men would assemble in crowded places and wait for the right opportunity. “On spotting an appropriate person, they give him/her a gentle push and in seconds steal the phone before the person could settle down. In swift movements, they would pass the phone to others in the gang, who would leave the spot in a jiffy. In such a situation, even if someone doubts them, they would easily get away after getting frisked,” said Dwivedi.
The officer said that the person who buys the phones used to sell the parts of phones, so he could never get caught. The gang has been active for the past two years and the police are investigating if they are indulged in some other criminal activities, he said.
The police at the Phase-1 station have also recovered three illegal knives and two motorcycles, which were allegedly used in the incident. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered in the case under section 379 (Punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). On the basis of the recovery of the seized items, IPC sections 411, 413, and 414 and sections 4 and 25 of the Arms Act were later added in the case.
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