KOCHI: Not just popular retail shops, but the accused persons involved in the theft of mobile phones during the October 6 concert of DJ Alan Walker in Kochi also have links to mobile phone spare parts shops and service centres in Mumbai and New Delhi, the police have found. T
hough the police, which is probing the theft of around 40 phones, nabbed four accused persons who were part of two separate gangs based in Mumbai and New Delhi, and seized 25 mobile phones, only seven could be confirmed as stolen during the concert.
The probe revealed that the accused persons were connected to some service centres and mobile phone shops that sell spare parts of high-end phones. “We suspect that to evade detection by the police, the gang supplies stolen phones to shops in New Delhi and Mumbai. There, the phones are dismantled and their spare parts sold in the black market. The gangs target high-end phones, including iPhones, as their spare parts are very expensive, and hence their sale would fetch good prices. People running phone repair shops buy the spare parts from stolen phones for cheap,” an officer said.
Sunny Bhola Yadav, 27, and Shyam Baranwal, 32, were arrested from Mumbai, while Atiq Ur Rehman, 38, and Wasim Ahmed, 31, were arrested from New Delhi. Atiq and Wasim are being interrogated at present, and the police have moved court seeking the custody of Sunny and Shyam.