Gang of mobile phone thieves busted, five arrested

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The police have arrested five people in connection with the theft of high-end mobile phones in Mumbra and the adjoining areas of Thane district, and recovered from them 91 such gadgets and cough syrup collectively worth Rs 9.15 lakh, a police officer said on Thursday. The arrests were made between May 11 and 16, he said.

"Acting on a tip-off that a resident of Mumbra had stocked several stolen mobiles and cough syrup, the police conducted a raid and seized the goods from his house on May 11. A total of 62 mobile phones and 502 bottles of cough syrup were recovered from him," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Ganesh Gawade said in a press conference.

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An offence under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act was registered against the accused at the Mumbra police station, he said. "During his interrogation, the accused told the police that one more person was involved in the thefts, following which the police arrested the latter as well," he said.

After stealing the phones, the accused used to sell the devices to a mobile dealer. He would in turn hand over the mobiles to two other dealers for cracking the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number. The police arrested all three of them and recovered the remaining stock of phones from them, the official said. The prime accused in the case is a history-sheeter with offences registered against him in the past - two in Mumbra and one each in Kurla and Thane, according to the police.

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