On New Year’s Eve, Mumbai Police arrested six individuals for allegedly stealing mobile phones in the crowded areas of Gateway of India and Colaba Causeway. The group included four members of a gang that traveled from Surat, Gujarat, and two locals from Mumbai.
The gang members were identified as Firoz Shaikh, 40, a driver; Raffiq Salim Shaikh, 28, a laborer; Jubair Patel, 32, a driver; and Imam Latif, 29, a painter. All are residents of Surat.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Pravin Munde stated, “As soon as we received the first complaint on Tuesday night, our teams immediately began reviewing CCTV footage from the area and identified four suspects.” The police successfully recovered six stolen mobile phones from the gang members.
The gang traveled from Surat specifically to commit thefts on New Year’s Eve when the areas of Gateway of India, Colaba Causeway, and Colaba bus stop were packed with tourists and locals. These areas proved to be ideal spots for the thefts, given the large crowds.
A second police team, led by Assistant Police Inspector Dnyaneshwar Khandekar, and including Constables Dhanraj Patil, Nilesh Mohite, and Raghunath Patil, arrested two more suspects: Farukh Shaikh, 30, and Santosh Shinde, 50, both residents of Chirag Nagar. Four additional stolen phones were recovered from them.
Police revealed that the two Mumbai-based suspects were habitual offenders with a history of multiple theft cases. Investigations are ongoing, and the police plan to verify any prior criminal records of the Surat-based gang.
