Mumbai Crime: Trio held for stealing cellphones from Shah Rukh Khan's fans outside Mannat

A crowd of people and the media gathered outside SRK’s residence in Bandra on Saturday. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The Bandra police arrested a gang of three people who targetted the crowd outside actor Shah Rukh Khan's residence, Mannat, to steal mobile phones, on Saturday. The crowd had gathered to welcome his son, Aryan, who had returned home on bail. Police said the three accused are habitual thieves and stole phones in the past too, and were arrested for this in 2017.

The accused were identified as Jayrudddin Iqbal Shaikh, 22, a food delivery boy and resident of Golibar Road at Khar east; Sarfaraz Zahid Khan, 23, a mason, also a resident of Golibar and Abdul Zahid Shaikh, 23, a resident of Nalasopara also a food delivery boy. The Bandra police registered three FIRs regarding the stolen mobile phones on Saturday and recovered two of the phones.

Speaking to mid-day, PSI Anand Kashid of Bandra police station said, "We arrested three accused on Saturday for stealing three mobile phones outside Mannat. We had heavy bandobast outside Mannat as Aryan was released on Saturday morning. We suspected some people and kept an eye on them. Later we nabbed them and found two stolen mobile phones with them. One of the complainants is a senior journalist from Delhi. There are more accused involved and we are looking for them."

Jitendra Kumar Sharma, the senior journalist said, "I was covering the news at around 11.30 am on Saturday outside Mannat. I was live on television and my mobile was connected to the anchor. I suddenly realised that my voice was not reaching the anchor and found my mobile missing from my pocket. I registered a complaint but my mobile has not yet been recovered." A rickshaw driver working for a cab aggregator service was another complainant whose mobile was stolen. One of the phones recovered from the accused was his.

Inspector Manohar Dhanawade of Bandra police station said, "We have registered three different FIRs and arrested three accused." Over 10 mobile phones were stolen from the crowd outside Arthur Road Jail when Aryan was released. The NM Joshi police are investigating the matter.