22,920 mobile thefts on Mumbai train till Aug:Cops’ efforts derailed?

GRP officials say most gangs are based out of state, sell phones in Nepal, Bangladesh

Apart from crowds, there is one more thing you need to watch out for while travelling on local trains – phone thieves.

Since January 2016, commuters have lost belongings collectively worth ₹47.72 crores — which amounts to an average of ₹50,000 per day. (Representational Image)

Around 22,920 cases of mobile theft have been registered till August this year, with 2,160 arrests by the railway protection force (RPF), government railway police (GRP) so far.

Even as GRP has been relentless in their crackdown on local mobile thieves and members of the ‘fatka’ gang, there has been a spurt in mobile thefts this year, particularly by those who come to the city from outside the state, said GRP officials.

Since January 2016, commuters have lost belongings collectively worth ₹47.72 crores — which amounts to an average of ₹50,000 per day. Of this, ₹4.24 crore worth of property has been recovered.

“The cases of mobile phone thefts have increased over the past two years because cases are now being registered as first information reports (FIRs) instead of missing cases,” said Niket Kaushik, commissioner of police, GRP.

GRP officials have claimed that they have identified the maximum number of mobile thieves have been intercepted in the city. Most of the accused, taking advantage of their anonymity, come in and target locals.

“We have arrested at least six gangs from states such as Delhi, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan who have activated a vicious web of committing mobile robberies in Mumbai trains,” said Santosh Dhanvate, senior police inspector, railway crime branch.

“We have four officers at each station who are a part of the crime prevention and detection team. These officers study the dossier of record criminals and are in charge of tracking their present positions and activities. They conduct a surveillance of the station premise and scan CCTV footages to spot the criminals,” said Anoop Shukla, railway protection force (RPF).

After a series of such cases, the city, the police had set up a team to study the pattern of thefts and the modus operandi employed by the robbers. According to GRP and RPF officials, outstation robbers have a peculiar way of operating and transporting the stolen goods.

Each gang has around four members who board the train at a time. The man in charge of carrying out the actual theft is known as the ‘machine.’ The rest, in charge of covering for the ‘machine’ by diverting commuters’ attention and passing the stolen phone along, are called ‘chappad.’ The gang members position themselves such that within minutes of the robbery, the phone is passed along to either the next compartment or outside the train. The gang members usually rent out a room either in a lodge or a slum pocket for one month, before shifting base to another lodge.

An additional member, who arrives in the city at the end of the month, collects the stolen goods and takes it back to their respective state.

The mobile phones are then sold in Nepal or Bangladesh. These countries are chosen as Indian authorities cannot trace phones in these countries using the international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), a unique number used for identification.

Some phones are also sold to unsuspecting users within the country, and are used for committing cybercrimes.

“At least nine to ten phone robbers are arrested by GRP daily. Some are caught by RPF and some by commuters themselves. However, 90 percent of them are first-timers,” said Kaushik.