KOCHI: A stolen mobile phone in Kochi can have a life far removed from the pocket from which it was lifted.
Police have encountered evidence of phones being moved outside the state after thefts. During the investigation into around 40 phones stolen at a 2024 concert in the city, police found links between the accused and mobile-phone spare-parts shops and service centres in Mumbai and New Delhi. Investigators believed the gangs were supplying stolen phones to such establishments, where they could be dismantled and their components sold.
Police now suspect some pickpocket gangs to be employing the same modus operandi: move the phone quickly, keep it off mobile networks and, where necessary, turn it into parts before it creates a trail.
The shift is significant because the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) has made it increasingly difficult to use stolen phones openly. Once its International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) code is blocked, a handset cannot be used on networks in India. People familiar with the trade say dismantling can therefore be safer than selling the phone. “The person who steals the phone is not necessarily the one who eventually makes money from it,” a police officer said.
A TNIE investigation found that while established second-hand dealers generally seek proof of identity before accepting phones, an informal channel operates around stolen devices — with phones moving from pickpockets to intermediaries and, in some cases, to dismantling units and buyers outside Keralam.
Senior officers said habitual pickpockets have increasingly specialised in targeting phones in crowded buses, markets and shopping areas. “We have recently increased the strength of shadow police in the city. Such teams are monitoring repeat offenders and tracking gangs involved in mobile-phone thefts,” an officer said.
“The safer option for them is to dismantle the device. Some pickpockets have their own channels through which the parts are disposed of in bulk. The parts can move from Keralam to Delhi, Mumbai and other northern states,” a dealer familiar with the network said.
TNIE spoke to around 10 youngsters arrested for pickpocketing. One person in his 20s who claimed to have been part of a gang said premium phones fetched higher commission. “Compared with drugs and other crimes, this is safer. We dismantle the phones and sell them to an agent in bulk, usually weekly,” he said.
