Telangana: Hyderabad police bust interstate mobile theft gang, 9 held including home guard and 2 constables

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 31 : Hyderabad police arrested an interstate mobile theft gang consisting of 6 accused from MS Maqta, along with one home guard and two constables, and seized 15 phones from their possession on Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Panjagutta Division, Hyderabad, said in a press release.
The six accused have been identified as Alamin Gazi (24), Mohammad Shahanwaz (39), Govinda Kumar Mahto (32), Jugeshvar Noniya (31), Jonu Kumar (22) and Md Mukhtar Shekh (28). Home guard K Ashok (45 years) and two police constables P. Somanna (38) and Sai Ram (34) have also been arrested.
According to police, "Working on available clues in recent mobile theft cases in Metro trains, under the supervision of S M Vijay Kumar, DCP West Zone, Hyderabad and S Mohan Kumar, ACP, Panjagutta Division Police got a break through and an interstate mobile theft gang consisting of six accused persons were apprehended in MS Maqtha along with one Home guard and two constables and seized 15 phones from their possession."
According to police, during interrogation, the accused confessed that the main kingpin of the gang, namely Rahul Kumar Yadav of Theenpahar village in Jharkhand state, had formed a gang and deputed the gang members to various parts of the country, such as Hyderabad, Surat, Lucknow, Ranchi, Belur, Chennai, Varanasi, Nagpur, and Patna.
"The gang members identified crowded places such as vegetable markets, Metro trains, religious processions, etc. The gang members moved in the said places, identifying gullible victims who kept their cell phones in their shirt pockets, and when the gang members gave cover to disturb the concentration, a trained member of the gang picked up the cell phone from the pockets of the victims and handed it over to another member of the gang. To escape from apprehension immediately after committing theft, all the gang members would sneak from the place, and they would go to another crowded place to commit cell phone theft," police added.
In a press release, the Asst. Commissioner of Police said that when they committed a theft of mobile phones of about 50-60, they informed gang kingpin Rahul Kumar Yadav.
"He used to send another person, Muktar Singh to Hyderabad and other cities to collect the mobiles and bring them to Jharkhand, and they both together proceeded to West Bengal and sold them to Bangladeshi citizens near the India-Bangladesh border. On July 23, 2024, Shanu came to Hyderabad M.S. Maktha to their room and took away all the stolen cell phones, approximately 58 cell phones." the press release added.
According to Asst. Commissioner of Police, the police personnel working in Gadhi Nagar Police Station i.e, Ashok Home guard and Police Constable (PC) Somanna & Saifabad PS, i.e., Sai Ram PC, helped gang members get released from police stations by taking money from the gang members as and when they were apprehended by the police.