The police have busted a gang of three snatchers who were looking to earn quick money by selling stolen mobile phones. The gang had set a target of stealing at least 10 mobile phones each day.
According to the police, their modus operandi ensured that they earned over Rs. 5 lakh per month. The gang, which had been active for at least four years, is believed to have snatched thousands of phones.
In fact, the South Delhi district police recovered over 250 stolen mobile phones from the gang. Among these were iPhones and high-end Android smartphones.
“The snatchers would sell iPhones for Rs. 4,000-5,000, high-end Android smartphones for Rs. 3,000- 4,000 and other phones for anywhere between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 2,500,” said Nupur Prasad, Additional DCP (South).
The arrested men have been identified as Sharik, Faique and Ashif.
Police said they had a ready buyer in Amit Gulati, who owns a “used” mobile phone shop in Central Delhi’s Gaffar Market.
Gulati mainly dealt in buying and selling stolen mobile phones. “Gulati was so deep in this business that he always carried Rs. 2-3 lakh with him. He was the go-to person for many snatchers in the area as he would immediately shell out decent money for any number of stolen phones,” said a senior investigator.
Since changing the IMEI number of an iPhone is not an easy task, Gulati would disassemble it before using parts from several phones to create a new iPhone. The other phones apparently did not pose much of a problem in terms of changing the IMEI number.
Police said Gulati would sell these stolen smartphones at a price that was as much as five times higher that the amount he would pay.
The police have recovered 239 mobile phones and spare parts of 41 other phones from Gulati’s shop.
Faique and Ashif were arrested last month during an intense drive by the South Delhi district police. Sharik, however, managed to evade the police back then.
However, earlier this month Sharik was caught from Central Delhi’s Daryaganj area for possessing firearms. His interrogation spilled the beans about the gang and led to Gulati’s arrest.
