Delhi cops bust international gang of phone thieves, 3 held

Of the 261 stolen phones, police have traced the original owners of 67 phones and solved 16 more cases of theft and snatchings registered in Delhi.

The Delhi Police crime branch on Sunday said they busted an international gang involved in stealing and trafficking cellphones to Nepal and Bangladesh and arrested three of its members. They also recovered 261 phones from them. At least four more members of the gang are on the run, police said.

Police identified the arrested men as Kuldeep alias Lala, a 35-year-old resident of Regarpura in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh and the receiver of stolen cellphones, and Satnam Singh,24, and Suraj Dutt, 23-- two alleged snatchers from south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar. (Representational image/HT Photo)

Of the 261 stolen phones, police have traced the original owners of 67 phones and solved 16 more cases of theft and snatchings registered in Delhi. The investigating team is trying to find the other owners too, said deputy commissioner of police (crime) Monika Bhardwaj.

Police identified the arrested men as Kuldeep alias Lala, a 35-year-old resident of Regarpura in central Delhi’s Karol Bagh and the receiver of stolen cellphones, and Satnam Singh,24, and Suraj Dutt, 23-- two alleged snatchers from south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar.

DCP Bhardwaj said that a head constable of the interstate cell of crime branch recently received information about one of the gang members and his activities. Accordingly, they kept a vigil.On February 19, Lala was arrested with 100 stolen phones while he was on his way to deliver them on his scooter. His interrogation led the police to Satnam Singh and Suraj Dutt and they were arrested with six phones a day later. The duo led the police to the house of their associate, one Junaid, in Jahangirpuri. A total of 104 stolen phones were seized from Junaid’s house but he went on the run, the police said.

During Lala’s interrogation, DCP Bhardwaj said, he disclosed that he had been receiving and selling stolen phones since 2015. Three years ago, he met a man named Promise who gave him some money and asked him to supply stolen phones. “Lala told us that he bought stolen phones from two persons--Amit and Deepak. We raided their houses , but they had already gone on the run,” added Bhardwaj.