Ahmedabad, Oct 3 (IANS) A three-member gang allegedly involved in snatching mobile phones from people out for walks at night and subsequently using credit card and bank account details stored in the devices to make online purchases has been arrested by the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Ahmedabad Police, officials said on Saturday.
The LCB Zone-8 team recovered 15 mobile phones allegedly snatched by the accused and two two-wheelers used in the offences.
Police said the investigation also led to the detection of seven mobile-snatching cases registered with Ramol, Narol, Isanpur and Maninagar police stations in Gujarat.
The accused were identified as Harshil Vaghela, 19, a resident of Vatva; Mohammad Sharif alias Babu Mohammad Anish Sheikh, 20, also from Vatva; and Shahidkhan alias Sahu Imrankhan Pathan, 19, of Saiyedwadi in Vatva.
According to police, incidents of mobile snatching had been reported over the past one to one-and-a-half months in different areas under Zone-8 jurisdiction, particularly at night when people were out walking on public roads.
Investigators found that several incidents had taken place along similar routes.
Following directions from senior police officers to trace the accused and detect pending cases, LCB teams collected and analysed CCTV footage from the locations of the incidents.
They also gathered information about people previously arrested in similar cases.
Police said technical inputs and information from human sources indicated that suspects seen in CCTV footage from the snatching routes were frequently travelling in different vehicles between New Maninagar and Vastral RTO Road.
The LCB team subsequently intercepted three men matching the physical descriptions seen in the CCTV footage while they were travelling on two two-wheelers.
During searches of their vehicles and persons, police recovered 15 mobile phones of different makes, which were allegedly snatched.
During questioning, the accused allegedly admitted to carrying out mobile snatching in different parts of Ahmedabad.
Police said further investigation revealed that the accused used credit card and bank account information available on the stolen phones to make purchases through the Flipkart Minutes app, which delivers groceries, daily-use items and other products.
“The three accused would ride a Burgman scooter or Splendor motorcycle at night and target people walking along public roads. They followed their targets before snatching mobile phones from their hands when an opportunity arose and fleeing from the spot,” officials said.
The 15 recovered mobile phones have been valued at Rs 4.66 lakh. Police also seized a white scooter valued at Rs 50,000, and a black motorcycle valued at Rs 30,000.
The seven cases detected include four FIRs registered at Ramol, Narol, Isanpur and Maninagar police stations under Sections 304(2) and 54 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, besides three e-FIRs registered at Ramol and Narol police stations.
Police said Mohammad Sharif also has a previous case registered at Narol police station under Sections 304(2) and 54 of the BNS.
–IANS
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