BHUBANESWAR: Police on Monday arrested a key member of an inter-state mobile theft gang and seized 150 stolen devices from him, including 22 iPhones.
The accused, MD Sayem Ali of West Bengal was nabbed from a hotel in Ashok Nagar area here. Capital police launched an investigation after a person lodged a complaint alleging a miscreant snatched his iPhone while he was waiting at Station Square to board an Ama Bus at around 8 am on Sunday.
A few hours later, police traced the stolen device’s location to a hotel in Ashok Nagar and nabbed Ali from a room there. He was found to be packing several stolen mobile phones for reportedly transporting them out of the state.
During interrogation, Ali revealed about his involvement in mobile theft and snatching activities. Preliminary investigation suggested that he was part of an organised inter-state syndicate operating in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri, and was particularly targeting devotees and commuters during Rath Yatra.
Police said the gang’s members are mostly natives of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and bordering areas of Bangladesh. They frequently visit crowded places like markets, temples and bus stands to commit thefts, often involving women and children as part of their operation.
The stolen items are transported to different states and sold, and proceeds of the crimes are distributed among the members. The gang’s members lead a nomadic lifestyle, stay near railway stations, bus stands and flyovers and keep changing their locations, police said.
The cops have, meanwhile, urged citizens to report theft or loss of mobile phones to their nearest police station and block their stolen device through the CEIR portal (https://www.ceir.gov.in) to improve the chances of recovery.
