A 26-year-old resident of Ranchi has been arrested for allegedly stealing mobile phones at crowded places like the National Zoological Park here, the police said on Tuesday.
They claim to have solved 14 cases of theft and recovered nine phones from Jitan Kumar, who lives on rent in Azadpur here.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (south-east) Chinmoy Biswal said Jitan’s two associates, Roshan and an auto-rickshaw driver, are on the run.
14 cases
“Fourteen cases of theft registered at Hazrat Nizamuddin police station have been solved with his arrest and nine mobile phones have been recovered,” said Mr. Biswal.
A Noida resident was at the zoo on Saturday when the accused stole his phone from his pocket.
“The victim was in front of the jaguar enclosure when Jitan stole his phone. The victim raised an alarm the moment he realised his phone was missing. The officers present at the spot chased Jitan and caught him,” said Mr. Biswal.
The accused told the police during interrogation that Roshan and he came to the zoo on weekends because of the crowds and stole phones while visitors were busy watching animals.
“Roshan had accompanied Jitan to the zoo but fled when he saw Jitan getting caught. Efforts are on to nab him,” said the officer.
Jitan told the police that Roshan and he have an auto-rickshaw driver wait for them outside the zoo.
