PUNE: The Airport police on Tuesday claimed to have cracked a series of cellphone thefts, reported across the city over the past month, with the recent arrest of four youths from Karnataka.
The suspects, between 20 and 22 years old, hail from Bhalki in Karnataka and were living in a rented room in the city for the past month-and-a-half, the police said.
Fourteen cellphones, totally worth Rs2.65 lakh, were recovered from the suspects, the police said. The suspects would restore the stolen handsets to factory settings and sell them in the grey market back in Bhalki, the police added.
The four youths — Manoj Kashinath Kasle (20), Shilarsaheb Mohammed Ismail Saudagar (20), Balaji Dhanraj Kasle (22) and Sherli Chandsaheb Shaikh (22) — had moved to Pune around the beginning of August and rented a room in Kasturba slum, off Aundh Road. They would move around the city on two motorcycles and mostly target women and pedestrians talking on the phone. Two suspects were caught on a CCTV camera snatching a phone from a woman.
Following five complaints of cellphone snatching in the past couple of weeks, the Airport police had stepped up vigil in their limits. A team comprising senior inspector Bharat Jadhav and inspector Mangesh Patil received a tip-off on September 8 about the suspects, who were spotted riding two-wheelers without registration plates. The team nabbed the duo, who confessed under questioning.
“The youths mostly targeted Chikhali, Bhosari, Vimannagar, Chandannagar, and Yerawada,” senior inspector Jadhav said. “After snatching the cellphones, the suspects would format and sell them for Rs 4,000-5,000,” he added.
A crime branch officer said smartphones which can be easily unlocked and cannot be traced are sold two or three states away from where they were stolen. This way, the officer explained, the stolen phones cannot be traced. Smartphones which are password-protected are taken apart and their parts — mic, camera lenses and screens, etc — are sold to third-party mobile repair shops.
