Phone thieves who targeted AP Dhillon concert in Delhi arrested
The gang usually targeted audiences in musical concerts and live events, besides people in crowded places, such as railway and Metro stations or religious gatherings
New Delhi
Four members of an interstate gang of thieves were held for stealing high-end phones during popular singer-rapper AP Dhillon’s music concert held at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in central Delhi on Sunday, officers aware of the matter said. Forty stolen phones, including eight iPhones ranging from the 13 series to 17 Pro Max, were recovered, they said.
The gang usually targeted audiences in musical concerts and live events, besides people in crowded places, such as railway and Metro stations or religious gatherings, officers of the Crime Branch said.
“The stolen phones are further smuggled into Bangladesh and Nepal, where they are sold as refurbished cellphones, without even tampering with their IMEI and other security features. Once the stolen phones cross the Indian borders, they are never tracked,” deputy commissioner of police (crime) Vikram Singh said.
DCP Singh said that on Monday, a crime branch team was tipped off about the gang’s presence in Delhi, following which they arrested them on Tuesday. The police team intercepted a Maruti Suzuki Ignis bearing a Delhi registration number near the Yamuna Vihar Metro station and overpowered the four suspects. They were identified as Salman Sakur, 35, Imran (single name), 28, Mohammad Shahrukh, 32, and Wasim, 25, all of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Interrogation of the arrested men revealed that Salman, who is the gang leader, and others deliberately operated in densely crowded public places where people were more likely to carry expensive phones and were relatively off guard.
“The accused would work as a team – some members would surround and distract the victim while one or two deftly pickpocketed or snatched the phone. To prevent immediate tracking, the gang had adopted a professional counter surveillance technique: immediately after theft, iPhones were wrapped in aluminium foil, which effectively blocks all signals (cellular, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and RFID),” DCP Singh said.
He said that the stolen phones were then swiftly moved to Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), where the gang had established contacts in the grey market. The high-end devices were sold at throwaway prices within hours of the theft, making recovery extremely difficult. Salman admitted that the gang had been actively operating in Delhi-NCR for the past several months and had committed scores of such thefts, to make a quick buck.
