Delhi Police bust gang of mobile phone thieves, 8 arrested

The Delhi Police has arrested eight members of a gang of mobile phone thieves and recovered 27 stolen phones from their possession, police said on Monday.

The accused have been identified as Vicky Singh, 22, Vikas Sharma, 23, Noor Hasan, 24, Jitender Yadav, 26, Bhim Singh, 27, Dalip Ganja, 28, Shahid, 38, and Firoz, 38. They are residents of different areas of south Delhi and Haryana's Faridabad and were also involved in more heinous crimes in the past.

"They were arrested on Sunday while boarding a bus for pick-pocketing in south Delhi's Mathura Road," Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said.

"The gang operated by Dalip Ganja was involved in mobile thefts and pick-pocketing in DTC and cluster buses in Sarita Vihar area. They used to target crowded buses during peak hours," he said.

"They would have escort motorcycles running with the bus to escape immediately after the crime and to keep an eye on police movements," Biswal added.

"During interrogation, Ganja told the police that he was earlier involved in 11 cases of attempt to murder, robbery and theft, and his main associate, Shahid had also been involved in 14 similar cases. They together raised their own gang of pickpockets and joined other criminals of their area," the officer added.