Police have arrested a gang of pickpockets in the city for stealing mobiles of bus passengers.
A special team probing complaints of stolen or lost cellphones observed a similar pattern in which many complainants lost their cellphones while traveling in MTC buses.
Kilpauk Deputy Commissioner of Police K Karthikeyan said: “We analyzed the CCTV footage and IMEI numbers of the stolen cellphones. Our team found a particular group involved in stealing cellphones in an organized manner and after a long search caught the accused ”
Identification of those arrested. Umapati, 33, S. Saravanan, 30, M. Vinayagam, 45, L. Naresh, 30, Korukkupet and Umar Farooq, 30, Tondiarpet. 108 cell phones, a two-wheeler and an autorickshaw have been recovered from them.
Police said Umapati, Vinayagam and Naresh would gather near the Guindy Race Course bus stop and devise a strategy to target the bus passengers. They will then board buses bound for Tambaram, Velachery, Medavakkam, Sholinganallur and other places in the southern parts of the city. The gang used to steal cell phones from the men by taking advantage of the busiest rush in the buses between 8.30 am and 10 am. Soon after stealing the cellphones, the accused would get down from the bus and hand them over to Saravanan who followed the bus in an autorickshaw. The gang used to sell handsets through Umar Farooq at low prices and earn at least Rs 30,000 a day.