4 held for stealing 29 mobile phones of Rs 8.13 lakh from Thane shop

Thane, Aug 11 (PTI) Police have arrested four members of a gang for allegedly stealing 29 mobile phones valued at Rs 8.13 lakh from a shop in Maharashtra's Thane district, an official said on Sunday.

The theft took place in the early hours of July 28 at the shop located near a bank at Sai Residency in Bhiwandi area.

The thieves broke into the shop by drilling a hole in its wall and stole the handsets, Kongaon police station's senior police inspector Atul Adurkar said.

The thefts posed a significant challenge for the investigators due to high value of the goods and lack of initial clues, he said.

The police probe team analysed more than 150 CCTV recordings to trace the suspects, he said.

The probe indicated the thieves had travelled from Kongaon to Panvel by auto-rickshaw and train.

Acting on this information, the police initially arrested a 26-year-old man from Panvel on August 6.

His interrogation led the police to Indapur in neighbouring Pune district from where they later arrested three other persons, in the age group of 40 to 53 years, and recovered all the stolen handsets, the official said.

The arrested persons hailed from Sahibganj in Jharkhand, the police said. PTI COR MVG GK