The Lollapalooza sting: 7 thieves held, 2 FIRs registered

On both Saturday and Sunday, as the Jonas brothers (Nick-Kevin and Joe), Lauv, Sting, Halsey, OneRepublic and others mesmerised audiences at the festival, officials from the Tardeo police station tracked suspected thieves in person and via CCTV cameras. On Sunday night, as the festival was drawing to a close, they nabbed seven alleged thieves belonging to three gangs red-handed, with three phones including two iPhones and one Sony camera

Mumbai: When the US-based songwriter and rapper Post Malone performed at the Mahalakshmi Racecourse in December 2022, around 25 high-end phones were stolen during the concert. So during the Lollapalooza, a two-day music festival that took place at the Racecourse over the weekend, the police were on high alert.

The Lollapalooza sting: 7 thieves held, 2 FIRs registered

On both Saturday and Sunday, as the Jonas brothers (Nick-Kevin and Joe), Lauv, Sting, Halsey, OneRepublic and others mesmerised audiences at the festival, officials from the Tardeo police station tracked suspected thieves in person and via CCTV cameras. On Sunday night, as the festival was drawing to a close, they nabbed seven alleged thieves belonging to three gangs red-handed, with three phones including two iPhones and one Sony camera. Police said the accused had purchased tickets for the event worth ₹5000 each and wore decent clothes to appear as audience members.

“In the past, we had received complaints indicating 40 phones were stolen. So we were on alert this time. We kept an eye on record criminals and suspects, who were tracked by cops in plain clothes and via CCTV cameras,” said Vivek Shende, senior police inspector of Tardeo police station.

The seven arrested persons included Tanveer Dambra from a gang in Mumbai’s Malwani area, who was accused of stealing phones from a concert earlier, said police. Vikas Jha, Salim Sayyad and Imran Liyakat Ali belonged to a gang from Delhi, while Munir Kapadia, Suffiya Qureshi and Umar Shaikh belonged to a gang in Mumbra, Thane, said officials.

At least ten high-end phones were stolen from the two-day event, as per estimates of police officials. “Thane resident Shivani Rao has registered one complaint saying she lost her iPhone 13, Sony camera and other valuables from her purse during the event. Kurla resident Sahmat Khan has registered another complaint, saying he lost his iPhone 11 while having dinner at the event. More people are likely to report such thefts in due course,” said a police officer.

The police said many gangs became active during such events including from Khar and Malwani in Mumbai, as well as cities like New Delhi and Surat. Most of them had a similar way of working. They purchased tickets for these events priced at ₹5000 to ₹11000, wore good clothes, mingled with the crowd and stole costly valuables, mostly iPhones and other high-end phones, when the audience was busy enjoying the music. They either sold these phones or dismantled them and sold their accessories, said officials.

“They attend concerts all over the country, including at the Bandra Kurla Complex and the Racecourse in Mumbai; in Goa; at the Sunburn Festival in Pune and events in Bengaluru and Delhi,” said Shende.