Surat: A major mobile theft racket spanning Surat and Delhi has been busted with the arrest of a 32-year-old man allegedly involved in buying stolen phones, dismantling them to evade detection and selling the parts in the bustling Seelampur market in Delhi. Police seized 348 mobile phones and thousands of related components worth Rs 8.37 lakh.Limbayat police arrested Salim Malik, 32, after receiving a tip-off that he would pass through the Navanagar underpass carrying stolen mobile phones and components.DCP Zone 2 Kanan Desai told TOI, “Police inspector D D Chauhan and his team had got a tip-off that Malik would pass through Navanagar underpass with stolen mobiles. Based on the tip-off, the team kept watch and nabbed Malik with 348 mobiles, 2,308 sim cards, 327 memory cards, 350 motherboards and 88 batteries worth Rs 8.37 lakh.”According to police, Malik bought stolen mobile phones at low prices from four persons — Sagar Devipujak, Bhola Devipujak, Chetan Devipujak and Vipul. He would dismantle the devices and separate the components to make tracing difficult.Of the 348 phones recovered, seven had not yet been dismantled. Police found that theft complaints related to these phones had been registered in Surat and Odisha.“The accused would go to Delhi every month to sell 200 to 300 stolen mobiles. He would also sell parts separately to make up to Rs 1,500 in profit per mobile. Malik was doing this for the last three years,” Desai said.The seized stock includes handsets of brands such as Apple, Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, Motorola, MI and Realme, among others. Police are now probing a wider network linked to the theft and supply of the stolen devices.
