Four persons including two minors were arrested on Saturday and 41 cell phones, which the gang had stolen from passengers during train journeys and at crowded places, were recovered from their possession.   Police said the main accused, Suraj Mahto ( 22) hails from Jharkhand. He along with his accomplice Vikas Mehto (19) and two minor boys had been staying in two rooms in a hotel near Nadra Bus Stand.

When the police reached the hotel, Suraj and Vikas tried to escape by jumping off from the second floor and in process broke their legs.

During interrogation, the accused told police that they picked up phones from people’s pockets and also targeted passengers during train journeys. Both minor boys are 14-yearold’s.

Town inspector Jayant Tembhre said the accused had learnt the tricks from a place in Bihar. It seems there is training given for thefts and pick pocketing in a village in Motihari district.

An expensive Sony Xperia mobile which was stolen from a girl was recovered. Her Mumbai- based father had gifted it to her recently but the accused stole it. Similarly, a cell phone stolen from a woman in Bhopal Mela was also recovered.

The cost of the stolen cell phones is estimated to be around Rs. 2.5 lakh. They were stolen in Gorakhpur, Patna, Benares and during train journey apart from thefts in Bhopal.

During interrogation, the accused said that they would sell the costly cell phones at much lesser rate. Most of the phones were stolen in other states.

Often, the phones were sent to Nepal also. Soon after theft, they would throw the SIM card after breaking it. They also picked wallets at crowded places. The Hanumanganj police are conducting investigation in this regard.