Pune: Four arrested for stealing mobile phones at a musical concert

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Police have arrested four persons reportedly involved in the theft of multiple mobile phones during a musical concert in Pune, Maharashtra and recovered 14 gadgets from them, an official said on Monday, PTI reported.

Over 36 mobile phones valued at Rs 4.87 lakh were stolen during the musical event held in Pune's Kharadi area on October 18, he said to PTI.

A 20-year old man approached the Chandan Nagar police.

"The music concert was organised at a ground in the Kharadi area on October 18. We received multiple complaints of mobile theft at the event. We registered the complaints and found a gang behind the theft. Acting on a tip-off and technical evidence, we managed to recover 14 mobile phones from the possession of the accused," a senior official from Chandan Nagar police station said to PTI.

"A police team apprehended the four persons - two each from Hyderabad and Mumbai. We are conducting further probe into the matter as prima facie a big gang may be running this kind of (theft) operation," the official added.

32 thefts reported during Lalbaugcha Raja visarjan procession

Last month, during the immersion procession of Lalbaugcha Raja, police registered 32 cases against unidentified people for stealing mobile phones, jewellery, other valuables and wallets in central Mumbai, an officer said.

Police tactically deployed personnel en route to the Lalbaugcha Raja's procession, he said. "As devotees were busy bidding farewell to Lord Ganesh, thieves stole mobile phones, gold ornaments, gadgets, bags, purses and wallets," the officer said.

He said that several people had approached Kalachowkie police station to lodge complaints of theft, including valuables and cash.

"There were 32 complaints lodged at the police station on a single day," he added. Police suspect the involvement of an organised gang of thieves, he said.

In another incident last month, the police arrested two former employees of a private hospital and another person for allegedly stealing Rs 21 lakh cash from a doctor's cabin at the medical facility in Maharashtra's Thane district, PTI reported.

On September 21, when the doctor went to his cabin in the hospital located at Kashigaon's Vinay Nagar, he found the room had been burgled and the cash stolen, he said.

Upon reviewing the CCTV footage, it was found that an unidentified masked person had entered the cabin and stolen the money, Kashigaon police station's senior inspector Rahulkumar Patil said in a release, PTI cited.

A probe indicated that some known person might have committed the theft, he said.

The police first arrested a 32-year-old former employee of the hospital from his native place in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh on September 24.

During his interrogation, he revealed that the doctor's former driver, aged 28, hailing from Katihar in Bihar, wore the mask and committed the theft.

The driver and another 34-year-old man from UP, who was also involved in the crime, were subsequently arrested, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)