BENGALURU: The Bannerghatta police have arrested a 45-year-old man suspected to have plotted a spate of mobile phone thefts and recovered 1,037 phones worth over Rs 2 crore from him.
The accused, Mohammed Mahmood Pasha alias Arif Pasha, allegedly hired a team of henchmen to carry out the mobile phone thefts across the city on his behalf, while allegedly compensating them with a commission ranging from Rs 2,000-6,000, depending on the value of the stolen phones.
“Pasha, a resident of Goripalya, had been involved in mobile thefts for over a year. His modus operandi involved hiring people on his behalf across the city to steal phones, priced from Rs 10,000 to upwards of Rs 1 lakh,” said Mallikarjun Baladandi, SP, Bengaluru Rural.
“The accused used to stock mobile phones and sell them at a price lower than the market -- across Bengaluru and also in Tamil Nadu and Kerala,” an officer said.
The accused were nabbed when Pasha and his accomplice Mohammed Umar (57), were spotted outside a college on Bannerghatta Road. a police patrol team found two suspicious persons near the college and caught them with a box containing over 100 mobile phones of various brands.
The two admitted that they were stolen phones, which were up for sale to college students. Based on their information, two other accused -- Mohammed Ayaan alias Aleem and Mohammed Saleem -- were arrested.