Mobile phones stolen from India smuggled and sold outside country, madrasa teacher among main suspects

Investigating agencies have found that stolen mobile phones from India are being smuggled out of the country. The phones have been found to be smuggled through courier agencies and villagers along the Indo-Bangladesh border. 21 people were arrested during the investigation in the city of Mumbai and around 800 stolen mobile phones were recovered. One among the arrested is from the border state of Tripura.

The stolen phones that fetch high prices are smuggled to countries like Nepal and Bangladesh. Cheap phones will be sold in India itself. The Mumbai Police formed a special team and expanded the investigation based on the information received in this regard in June. The gang usually snatches phones from people in public transport systems and by coming on bikes.

There are networks for selling stolen phones in neighboring countries. After the theft, the pictures of the phone will be posted in the WhatsApp group. Then if there is demand, the phone will be packed and sent. According to the police, a person named Ashfaq Ahmed Abdul Aziz Sheikh is the main suspect in the racket. He used to worked as a teacher in a madrasa, but was actually running a racket of stolen phones. He has been found to be involved in sending phones to Nepal and Bangladesh. His method is to auction handsets to people in Nepal and Bangladesh by changing the IMEI numbers. His presence has been identified in 43 WhatsApp groups for this purpose.

Sheikh's family is now in Nepal. The stolen phones are first couriered to Tripura and then delivered to Bangladesh. Mumbai Police has identified three people who collect stolen phones and sell them in Bangladesh. Once it is smuggled into a neighbouring country, it is difficult for investigators to trace it using IMEI. According to the police, they have recovered phones worth about Rs 1 crore.

Meanwhile, the BSF seized mobile phones on the India-Bangladesh border this week. About three hundred and fifty cell phones were recovered. The intelligence wing of the BSF was monitoring the movement of the smugglers.