Owners identity five of 20 mobile phones stolen at concert

Five iPhones out of the 20 phones recovered by the Kochi City police from Delhi following the alleged theft of mobile phones during a concert of an international artiste earlier this month have been identified by their owners.

The Mulavukad police have registered one more case based on a petition filed by one of the owners. More people are likely to turn up for verifying whether their phones were among those recovered.

“The phones are being identified by verifying their IMEI [International Mobile Equipment Identity] numbers among other things. The phones will be submitted before court, and the owners will have to get them by filing release petitions,” said city police sources.

The police had arrested two suspects — Atiq Ur Rahman, with eight pending cases including theft and assault, and Waseem Ahammed, with four criminal cases — from Delhi and brought them to Kochi on Sunday. They remain remanded in judicial custody. The police will file a petition for their custody on Wednesday.

Another two — Sunny Bhola Yadav, a history-sheeter with four criminal charges, and Shyam Baranwal from Uttar Pradesh, with seven criminal cases — who were arrested from Mumbai will be brought to the city on Wednesday evening by train. Three phones have been recovered from them as well.

Out of the 39 mobile phones that were allegedly stolen during the concert at Bolgatty on October 6, 23 phones have been recovered so far. Four more accused remain on the run — two each from Delhi and Mumbai — and their mobile phones remain switched off.

Preliminary probe suggests that each gang member purchased a ₹2,000 ticket, mingled with the around 6,000-strong crowd, and allegedly stole the phones during the concert. The history-sheeters from Mumbai reportedly travelled to and from Kochi by flight, while those from Delhi made the round trip by train. This was the first large-scale mobile phone theft from a single venue in Kerala.

The police received an initial lead when cyber experts confirmed the presence of Waseem Ahammed, an accused in the 2022 mobile phone theft case from a DJ party in Bengaluru, at the concert in Kochi. A total of 20 phones were seized from his residence in Delhi, with the investigation focusing on areas such as Chandni Chowk and Chor Bazaar. The locations of the other gang members were subsequently traced to Mumbai.

Published - October 23, 2024 02:05 am IST