Cops bust gang of thieves for stealing phones worth ₹19L at Sunburn

Mumbai police arrested a gang for stealing ₹19.14 lakh worth of mobile phones at the Sunburn Music Festival 2025, recovering 19 devices.

Mumbai: The police on Monday arrested members of a Delhi-Karnataka-based gang for allegedly stealing mobile phones worth ₹19.14 lakh from visitors at the Sunburn Music Festival 2025. The police recovered 19 mobile phones of different brands and seized the car used in the crime.

Cops bust gang of thieves for stealing phones worth ₹19L at Sunburn

According to the Sewree police, the Sunburn Music Festival 2025, organized by Space Bound Web Lab Pvt. Ltd., was held at the Sewree Timber Pond Plot, near Atal Setu, Sewree East, from December 19 to 22. Given past concerns related to women’s safety, pickpocketing and phone theft during such large events, the Mumbai Police had deployed special teams for surveillance.

On Saturday, two festival-goers approached Sewree police station to report mobile snatching incidents at the venue. Following the complaints, special investigation teams were formed to trace the accused.

During patrol duty, a Crime Detection Unit team led by assistant police inspector Khule spotted a suspicious man who attempted to flee on seeing the police. He was detained and identified as Udugalappa Dasa Bhovi, 24, a resident of Karnataka. When the police searched him, they recovered four stolen mobile phones worth around ₹2 lakh.

Further patrolling led the police to a white Kia suspiciously parked nearby. The four people inside the car were detained and a search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 15 more mobile phones of different brands.

The accused were identified as Shahbaz Bhole Khan alias Shoaib, 28, Mohitkumar Ramkumar Patel, 25, Nikhil Eknath Yadav, 19, and Maheshkumar Sunehrilal Kumbhar, 20, all residents of Delhi. The car used to commit the thefts was also seized.