Gang of 15 arrested for stealing devices from phone towers in Delhi and NCR

The RRUs are expensive processing units that help in transmitting and receiving signals. These are usually mounted near the antenna on the towers

Last year, a leading telecom services company, based in New Delhi, wrote to the Delhi Police after several customers complained of weak or no signal in their areas. The company found that unidentified people were stealing their radio remote units (RRU) and baseband units (BBUs) from mobile towers across Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Faridabad.

On Tuesday, police said that they arrested 15 people, including two kingpins who are members of two gangs, for allegedly stealing equipment from mobile towers across north India and other places. (Representational image)

The RRUs are expensive processing units that help in transmitting and receiving signals. These are usually mounted near the antenna on the towers. The BBUs help in processing baseband signals and further transfer signals to RRU to provide data services. As per the Delhi Police Crime Branch, over 250 such units were missing that led to a total loss of ₹7-8 crore.

On Tuesday, police said that they arrested 15 people, including two kingpins who are members of two gangs, for allegedly stealing equipment from mobile towers across north India and other places. The arrests have been made over the last month from Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) as well as Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier, the “worried” telecom company complained of how these expensive units were being stolen since 2023 and they couldn’t catch the culprits since the accused were stealing these units during late hours and in areas with low footfall. Data taken from local police revealed that 63 cases of theft were reported — Delhi (48), Gurugram (3), Faridabad (4), Ghaziabad (1), Noida (6) and Tamil Nadu (1).

An investigation into the thefts revealed involvement of multiple people — two gangs — in the crime.

Police said the two gangs were caught with more than 53 RRUs and BBUs, worth ₹2 crore. They have already “disposed of” or sold over 250 units, worth ₹7-8 crore, investigators added.

Two teams of Crime Branch were formed and were headed by deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Amit Goel and DCP Rakesh Paweriya.

“The gangs targeted areas such as Outer Delhi, Rohini, West Delhi and other isolated spaces. People complained that they failed to make calls and use the internet because of the thefts. We started looking into all CCTVs near these spots. We also communicated with the national nodal officer of the company who told us the company suspects involvement of its own employees,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

Paweriya said, “The accused used software as well as hardware tools to remove the RRUs and BBUs. They used ropes, carabiners and pulleys to climb up the towers.”

“The suspects were never questioned as they would pretend to carry out repair work,” said another officer on condition of anonymity.