Busting a gang of snatchers, police have arrested a municipal corporation sweeper and his three accomplices who were behind a string of mobile phone snatching cases across the city.
After snatching the phones, the gang would sell them at a mobile repair shop in Ram Darbar. Along with the gang members, identified as Akshay, 21, Rahul, 24, Sagar, 20, and Vivek, 20; the shop owner, Santosh, 44, has also landed in police net.
Sagar is a sweeper with Chandigarh MC, Akshay is a labourer, Rahul works in catering in Patiala and Vivek is a student, said police.
Police said the accused, all residents of Ram Darbar, turned to crime to fund their drug addiction. They had been active for the past six weeks.
The arrests were made by a team from the Sector-31 police station on Wednesday, resolving three recent snatching cases.
Akshay and Rahul were apprehended from the Sector 47-C/D turn. Their arrest led to the recovery of a snatched Oppo A52 mobile phone, the victim’s Aadhaar card and a motorcycle used in the crime, which had a tampered registration number.
On the same day, Sagar and Vivek were arrested from the Sector 31 A/B dividing road. A snatched Vivo T2X mobile phone and another motorcycle used in the crimes were recovered from them.
According to police, the gang, riding motorcycles, would approach unsuspecting victims from behind, quickly snatch their mobile phones and flee the scene. Their crimes were spread across various locations in Chandigarh, with particular focus on secluded areas.
{{/usCountry}}According to police, the gang, riding motorcycles, would approach unsuspecting victims from behind, quickly snatch their mobile phones and flee the scene. Their crimes were spread across various locations in Chandigarh, with particular focus on secluded areas.
{{/usCountry}}Sold stolen phones for ₹1,000- ₹1,500
During interrogation, Sagar and Vivek admitted their involvement in multiple snatching incidents in the tricity area, revealing they sold the stolen phones to Santosh for ₹1,000- ₹1,500 each, depending on their condition.
Santosh would buy the stolen phones to extract their screens and other spare parts. Upon his arrest on Wednesday, police recovered 40 snatched/stolen mobile phones worth approximately ₹5 lakh from his shop.
Further investigation is underway to uncover the gang’s operations and recovering additional stolen property.