Chandannagar police have arrested four individuals—three from Mumbai and one from Hyderabad—on charges of stealing mobile phones from attendees at an international DJ’s concert. The incident took place on Friday night at an open ground of an English medium school in Kharadi, where the concert was being held. The police recovered a total of 36 stolen mobile phones, valued at Rs 4.87 lakh, from the suspects.
Assistant Inspector Siddhant Khandekar of the Chandannagar police identified the arrested individuals as Sayyed Mohammed Indris Shaikh (21), Lokesh Hanumant Pujari (31), and Pappu Bhagirathi Vaishya (24), all from Mumbai, and Akhil Venkatramana Godavari (24) from Hyderabad.
Khandekar explained, “We received multiple complaints from concertgoers about stolen phones. While our team was checking the area, we spotted one man acting suspiciously. When stopped for questioning, he gave evasive answers, prompting us to search him. We recovered several mobile phones from his possession.”
During further questioning, the arrested man revealed the names of his accomplices. Police tracked down the other suspects and recovered additional stolen phones, bringing the total number of seized devices to 36, worth Rs 4.87 lakh.
The suspects later confessed that they often target concerts of popular DJs and singers, knowing that these events attract a wealthy crowd carrying expensive phones. They explained that they travel to different cities to commit these thefts and resell the phones at discounted prices in Mumbai and other locations.
Khandekar added, “The gang has been active in various parts of the country, targeting affluent individuals who attend high-profile events.”