Patna: In a major breakthrough, the Bihar STF and Araria police on Saturday claimed to have cracked the theft of cellphones worth around Rs 12 crore from a truck container, recovering 3,658 handsets along with cash, vehicles and other incriminating materials. The case was registered at Araria Town police station on June 9 against truck drivers Mohd Talim and Mohd Sahib under several sections of the BNS.According to an STF statement, a special investigation team (SIT), led by DSP Mohd Sabri Ali and assisted by the Purnia STF, was constituted to probe the case. Raids conducted across multiple states led to the arrest of six accused and the recovery of a large number of stolen phones.
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The first arrest was made on June 15 when Anwar alias Anwarul was nabbed with two cellphones. Based on his disclosure, police arrested Delhi-based shopkeeper Deepak Gupta from Karol Bagh the next day and recovered three cellphones from him. A subsequent search yielded 96 more handsets.On June 17, police arrested Mohd Sahil Qureshi and Mohd Kamil alias Kimmi from Karol Bagh. Investigators identified them as key wholesale dealers who purchased stolen phones and supplied them to retailers. Their interrogation led to the recovery of 62 phones from a hotel, 232 from a car at Nehru Place in Delhi and 422 from a room in Noida. A sedan and an SUV were also seized.Further raids led to the recovery of 136 phones from a shopkeeper, Sonu, on June 23 and 144 phones from Pawan Gupta on June 29.The prime accused, Mohd Talim, was arrested from Sikri in Rajasthan on July 1 with a country-made pistol. During interrogation, he revealed the involvement of Naeem Khan alias Naeem Sarpanch, who was arrested from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh on July 8. Based on his disclosures, police recovered 620 mobile phones, Rs 6.97 lakh in cash, the truck used in the theft and an SUV.The investigation subsequently identified Anis Khan alias Anis Vishambharia as the mastermind. He was arrested from a hotel in Ludhiana on July 20. His interrogation led to the recovery of 1,638 phones from Talim’s house in Hathin, Palwal, and another 180 handsets hidden in Bhiruki village in Hodal on July 21.On July 23, police recovered 35 phones from Hemant Kumar in Chandigarh and 28 phones from Mohd Aakil in Nuh, Haryana. “So far, police have recovered 3,658 phones, Rs 6.97 lakh in cash, a laptop, a DVR, a hatchback, a sedan, two SUVs and a truck. Around 80% of the stolen phones have been recovered and all key accused have been sent to judicial custody,” the STF said.
