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Hadapsar police bust mobile theft gang, recover 52 phones
The accused have been identified as Shaymkumar Sanjay Ram 25, Vishlkumar Ganga Mahato 21, Badalkumar Motilal Mahato 25, and Vikikumar Ganga Mahato 19, all from Jharkhand
PUNE: Hadapsar police on Tuesday busted a mobile robbery gang by arresting five members from the Bhaji Mandai area in Hadapsar and recovered 52 mobile handsets worth ₹16 Lakh. The accused have been identified as Shaymkumar Sanjay Ram 25, Vishlkumar Ganga Mahato 21, Badalkumar Motilal Mahato 25, and Vikikumar Ganga Mahato 19, all from Jharkhand.
According to sources, police received information about a few people selling stolen mobile phones while patrolling in the mandai area in Hadapsar. Following the information, a squad of Hadapsar police officers set up a trap and nabbed five suspects, while the search for the other two is underway.
Assistant Police Inspector (API) Vijay Kumar Shinde said, “We have recovered 12 handsets from the arrested persons and 40 more phones were recovered during a house search.”
Shinde further said that during interrogation, it was revealed that the perpetrators had hatched a plan to carry out mobile thefts during the Ganesh Festival in the city. On September 12, they landed in Pune by Hatiya Express from Jharkhand and stole mobiles from Mandai, Hadapsar, Vishrambaug Wada, Faraskhana, Bund Graden, and Swargate areas of the city.
Police further told that Vikikumar Ganga Mahato and Vishal Kumar Ganga Mahato were on record criminals and were involved in rape and theft cases in Jharkhand respectively.
On September 23, Hadapsar police busted another gang of mobile theft and recovered 20 mobile handsets from them. In the last three days, in various actions, Hadapsar police have recovered a total of 72 stolen mobile handsets and arrested nine accused in various mobile theft cases.