Gang targetted big events to steal costly mobiles
New Delhi: From more than 10 major events including Justin Beiber's live concert and World Culture Festival in Delhi, a gang on an average stole around 40 costly mobile phones from the audience. With the illicit earning, the gang leader started giving his associates a monthly salary of more than Rs 40,000. But they ran out of luck when two of the associates were nabbed from North-East Delhi's Maujpur area on July 18.
According to police, on the basis of an information, they nabbed the accused identified as Aslam and Mukesh. They had come to Delhi from Puri (Odisha) after committing many thefts during the Puri Rath Yatra. More than 46 phones were recovered from them. "We suspect several people are the part of the high-profile gang but they are absconding. They have told us about two more persons. We are investigating. A manhunt has been launched to nab them," said police. The gang came on the radar of the law enforcement agency after the staff of North-East district observed that continuous thefts were being committed throughout India during shows of celebrities and international matches.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East) Atul Thakur stated that Aslam and Mukesh disclosed that they are running the gang for last 20 years. A few years back, he was using juveniles for committing theft. He had a lot of trained juveniles from the age of 10 years and above. In the last 4-5 years, they focused on big events for the theft of expensive mobiles. "They left giving training to the juvenile as the law was catching such type of criminals," said DCP Thakur. He further added that the accused hit upon the idea of visiting big events from where they can easily steal several costly phones. "With time, they started hiring adults and started paying them Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per month from the money which they get from stealing the phone," said the official.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East) RP Meena told the Millennium Post that the gang through internet applications and newspapers kept themselves aware of upcoming big events. They bought costly tickets for these functions, matches, concerts in advance to have a smooth entry. They used to travel by air to these events and came back by air-conditioned trains.
The major events that the gang targeted included Ganpati Visarjan (Mumbai), F-1 Car Racing (Greater Noida), The Motor Show/Auto Expo (Greater Noida), Eastern Peripheral Expressway Inauguration (Baghpat), International T20 Matches in Delhi, Mohali, Jaipur, Hardwell DJ Show (Mumbai), Navratri Garba Festival (Gujarat), Samsung Factory Opening (Noida), Mika Live Show (Gurgaon) and World Culture Festival (Delhi).
