The city police have nabbed an inter-State gang, which was engaging school dropouts to steal expensive mobile phones in quite a ‘professional’ manner.
Seven persons, including five minors, were arrested and 20 costly cell phones recovered from them on Tuesday. But when the investigators started digging into the case, they encountered a big surprise.
The main accused was identified as Sangram Nonia from Jharkhand. He used to hire minors for the thefts. The remuneration paid to these minors ranged from Rs.8,000 to Rs.20,000 per month depending on their expertise, a police officer said.
These minors, school dropouts and illiterate persons brought in from Jharkhand villages, were being positioned in malls, restaurants and crowded places in Bhubaneswar. The city police were probing as to how these stolen mobiles were being disposed of.
Meanwhile, the Commissionerate police on Tuesday warned bankers to strengthen security around banks to prevent robbers from targeting customers. They were advised to engage security guards from those agencies that have proper licenses. The CCTV cameras should also cover lobby and parking areas outside the banks, bankers were told in a meeting chaired by Commissioner of Police R. P. Sharma.
