12 gang members held for theft of phones, 41 mobiles worth Rs 30 lakh seized in Goa

PANAJI: Goa police on Thursday busted an inter-state gang of mobile phone thieves and arrested 12 persons, and seized 41 phones worth Rs 30 lakh from the accused. Narcotic substances have also been seized from the accused.
During interrogation, the accused confirmed that there were more persons involved in the crime, following which a police team left to other states to trace the other accused.
“A team of Calangute police arrested an inter-state gang of 12 persons from Maharashtra. They had come to Goa two-three days ago with the sole intention of targeting tourists at the Sunburn music festival as well as to take advantage of the rush of visitors in the state. It is a large gang, so we are trying to find out about their antecedents through our records,” North Goa superintendent of police (SP) Nidhin Valsan said.
“Their main target was to steal branded mobile phones. We have recovered 41 such phones, the maximum of which comprise iPhones. We have also seized the vehicle in which the accused had travelled to Goa. We are also finding out whether they are involved in any other crime. When we interrogated them, we also recovered eight grams of MDMA,” he said.
The North Goa SP said that the accused have revealed that they attempted to sneak into the Sunburn festival venue by purchasing tickets from others.
Police said that the accused were staying at two hotels in Baga. “We received information through intelligence about their whereabouts. Thereafter, we analysed CCTV footage and tracked their movements, and with further efforts, we were able to apprehend them from the Baga-based hotels,” Valsan said.
“Since the police have also recovered drugs, we assume that they might be also involved in drug peddling. They are actually a criminal gang, so they are into mobile robbery and drug peddling as well,” Valsan said.
Police had received a complaint from Jitesh Mehta, a resident of Pune, Maharashtra stating that his mobile phone had been snatched by an unknown person. Acting upon the complaint, Calangute police personnel proceeded in search of the person, and upon verifying CCTV footage, the accused was traced at Calangute. The mobile phone of the complainant was also recovered from the accused who were arrested.