Mumbai: Thief goes ‘digital’, seeks online payment from victims to return mobile phones

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The Mumbai police have arrested a mobile phone thief for allegedly demanding money from victims on his digital payments account, an officer said on Monday. The accused, Wasim Qureshi, is a history-sheeter, said the officer. He recently stole four mobile phones of his co-workers at a bakery in Kurla on the first day of his job, he added.

Later, one of the co-workers managed to get Qureshi's phone number and contacted him. Qureshi told the victim that he would return the mobile phones once they transferred money to his digital payments account.

Also read: Mumbai: Thief behind burglaries from December 2021 caught

"The accused started calling up the victims every day, asking for money. Fed up with his demand for money, one of the victims filed a police complaint. Qureshi was tracked down to Thane and nabbed. Police recovered 10 mobile phone handsets from his possession," the officer said.

Speaking about his modus operandi, the officer said that Qureshi used to visit various commercial units in Mumbai and demand a job for survival. He then used to steal mobile phones. He never submitted his identity proof to evade arrest. Qureshi has been booked under Section 380 (theft in dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code, V B Nagar police sub-inspector Bhausaheb Sonawane said.

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