Delhi: 4 held for smuggling stolen mobile phones to Nepal via Bihar

New Delhi, Jun 10 (PTI) A 26-year-old man, his wife and their two associates were arrested for allegedly smuggling stolen mobile phones to Nepal via Bihar, police on Monday said.

The arrested accused have been identified as Arjun (26), his 24-year-old wife, and their two associates Himanshu (19) and Jagarnath Kumar (28), they said.

Arjun, the mastermind of the gang, is previously involved in more than 14 cases of attempt to murder, robbery, snatching, theft, and the arms act, police said.

"On May 19, a secret information was received about Arjun that he was expected to come at Kamla Market to move/send snatched/stolen mobile phones to a preferred market in Nepal by bus or train and that he may also possess illegal weapon," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) M. Harsha Vardhan.

A team was formed to nab the accused. On the basis of information, the team laid a trap near Ajmeri Gate red light close to Kamla Market, he added.

"The team members spotted a car near Ajmeri Gate red light and apprehended Arjun and his wife. While searching them, a loaded pistol along with seven live rounds were recovered from Arjun," the DCP said.

"Upon searching of the car, the team uncovered a cache of stolen mobile phones concealed within cartons in the car’s trunk, amounting to approximately 150 devices of various brands, 140 adapters of mobile chargers and 90 USB cables," he added.

Arjun revealed during interrogation that both he and his wife were actively engaged in the smuggling of stolen mobile phones to Nepal via the route passing through Madhubani in Bihar, police said.

"For getting good profits in this work, he influenced his wife and his friend Himanshu and involved them in this work. They started buying high-end stolen mobile phones from criminals for Rs 4,000 to 5,000 and used to sell them in Nepal for Rs 10,000 to 15,000 through his other associates," the DCP said.

"In this work, his wife and friend Himanshu aided him, and he or his wife and sometimes Himanshu would go to Nepal for selling the mobile phones. Further we also recovered 51 mobile phones," he added.

Himanshu, who returned from Nepal to Delhi on the Swatantrata Senani Express train, was also nabbed at the Ghaziabad railway station and 25 snatched/stolen mobile phones were recovered from his possession, police said.

One more co-accused Jagarnath Kumar, who used to visit Nepal for collecting money and selling mobile phones with the gang members, was apprehended from the Nepal border, the DCP said, adding further investigation is in progress. PTI BM AS AS