In a major breakthrough, Ghaziabad police arrested seven members of an interstate gang involved in stealing remote radio units (RRUs) and other mobile tower equipment across the Delhi-NCR region. The arrests, made on Saturday, led to the seizure of stolen equipment and vehicles worth over Rs 1 crore.
Officials revealed that the accused, who had been involved in multiple thefts across several states, confessed to their activities, which were motivated by the booming demand for mobile tower batteries and RRUs in the black market. This lucrative market encouraged them to form a gang to carry out their operations on a larger scale.
Sachchidanand, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), explained that the gang targeted mobile towers of Jio and Airtel in Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. A raid on the gang’s hideout resulted in the recovery of 20 RRUs, a mobile tower battery, a Swift Dzire car, and a Tata ACE vehicle.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Mohsin (26), Akram alias Raja (19), Anas (22), and Salman (20) from Meerut, Sarfaraz (29) from Meerut but residing in Punjab, Shadab (34) from Ghaziabad, and Shaqib alias Raja (26) from Muzaffarpur, currently living in Delhi.
During interrogation, the accused revealed the names of additional gang members, including Anju, Aman, Dillu alias Dilshad, Sonu alias Kripal, Hatim, Shahid, Noor alias Nooru, Ayyub, and Hassan. The gang was allegedly led by Javed Mirapuriya.
Police investigators discovered that Sonu, a technician at a mobile company, played a crucial role by identifying the targeted equipment for theft. Aman coordinated logistics, arranging vehicles for reconnaissance and theft operations. The gang’s scrap dealers, Mohsin, Raja, and Sarfaraz, were responsible for smuggling the stolen equipment, which was then resold by other members like Dillu, Shahid, Noor, and Hassan. The proceeds were shared among all involved.
The police also noted that the gang typically operated at night. While two or three members climbed mobile towers to steal equipment, others handled the loading and transportation, making it easier to evade suspicion.
During the investigation, police discovered that some of the arrested suspects had criminal backgrounds. Mohsin and Anas, both uneducated, had prior criminal records, with Anas having been imprisoned for attempted murder. Sarfaraz, a class 7 dropout, and Salman, who completed up to class 10, also had run-ins with the law.