Mumbai: Mobile phone theft is rarely associated with efficiency manuals or assembly lines. But a seven-member ‘Dhakka Gang’ arrested by MIDC police appears to have turned pickpocketing into a carefully choreographed operation, complete with specialised job titles, role assignments and a well-rehearsed drama.The ‘Dhakka Gang’, arrested on July 30, targeted commuters travelling on crowded BEST buses along the Andheri-SEEPZ and Andheri-Ghatkopar routes.According to the police, each member had a designated role and even a nickname, allowing the group to steal expensive smartphones, priced around Rs 1 lakh, without victims realising they had been robbed.At the centre of the operation was the “machine”—the specialist who deftly lifted the phone from a passenger’s pocket. Standing alongside was the “chapper denawala”, who used a bag to shield the theft from public view. The phone was instantly handed to the “charmer”, who passed it to “boor”, whose only job was to disappear with the loot. Three or four others were known as “thekhdaar”, whose task was to keep the person surrounded.By the time the victim sensed something was amiss, the phone had already travelled through the gang’s human conveyor belt.Investigators said the gang followed an unwritten territorial divide, operating only in Andheri East and avoiding areas controlled by another mobile-snatching gang in Andheri (W).Police alleged the group stole at least 135 premium smartphones in the last month and a half and had set themselves a target of collecting 1,000 devices before refurbishing and sending them to Bangladesh and Nepal, where they were sold for roughly half their market value, making them difficult to trace. “The mobiles are sold for half the price (Rs 1 lakh are sold for Rs 50,000) in Bangladesh and Nepal. They claimed to have been operating it since year and a half,” said the police.The breakthrough came after MIDC police planted an informer who gained the gang’s confidence and monitored its movements. Acting on the information, officers laid a trap at Juinagar railway station, where the gang had temporarily shifted operations after two of its members were earlier arrested by Andheri police.“We laid a trap accordingly and nabbed them from Jui Nagar railway station where they had temporarily relocated their territory after two members of their gang were earlier arrested by Andheri police,” said a police officer of the MIDC police station.Police said the gang coordinated every morning over WhatsApp calls; they would decide which bus stops to target and assemble around noon to start their work.The arrested accused are Wasim Salim Shaikh (35), Azhar Mukim Mirza Baig (22), Firoz alias Jahid Hussain Khan (37), Dilshad Ahmed Ali Baig (28), Mubin alias M K Jahrila Babu Raza Khan (29), Abid Ali Azgar Ali Shaikh (27) and Sushil Kumar Chhatradhari Singh alias Thakur (40). The police found out that Wasim is the machine, Azhar is the chapper denawala, Firoz is the charmer, Dilshad is the Boor and the others are thekdaars.With the arrests, MIDC police said they solved two cases committed in their jurisdiction in June and July and one registered with Andheri police, and seized 135 mobile phones worth Rs 12.7 lakh stolen in the last month and a half.Police said the gang’s victims included an ONGC employee, Jagat Jyoti Mohanty (59), who was heading to his workplace on June 6 when he boarded a bus at 2.15 pm from Seepz Bus Stop in Andheri (East). The gang stole his mobile worth Rs 90,000.“CCTV footage of the crime, information was received through technical investigation and undercover informants that the said crime was committed by a gang of mobile phone thieves who hails from Shivaji Nagar, Govandi and Kalyan localities. The gang was caught on July 30 when they reached the bus stop outside Juinagar railway station to steal the mobile phones of passengers travelling in the bus,” said the police.DCP (West Zone-3) Datta Nalawade supervised the team of ACP Yogesh Shinde, senior inspector Ghanshyam Nair, inspector Sunil Karande, sub-inspector Kiran Nawle and staff, police said, adding that the team studied the gang members’ operating methods in BEST buses and how they robbed passengers using distraction.
