THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 78 mobile phones worth about Rs 14.5 lakh and Rs 1.2 in lakh in cash were stolen from a mobile phone shop near the overbridge here during the wee hours of Thursday. The images of six men were captured on the surveillance cameras of the shop and the police suspect that it was a gang based at Motihari in Bihar, infamous for robbers. The gang entered the shop by breaking the shutters around 4.30 am. Smart phones of leading brands were among those stolen. Forensic experts collected fingerprints and other scientific evidence from the shop.
The images of the suspects caught on CCTV cameras near the site of the offence.
City police commissioner Sparjan Kumar said that prima facie, it was committed by a Motihari-based gang. Similar robberies had taken place at a nearby shop and at Pattom in the last one year. There were also similar robberies in Kochi and Kollam. The links of these cases were also suspected, he said. The police would send the images of the gang to their counterparts in other states, including Bihar. A police team may be also be deployed to track the gang. The Vanchyoor police registered a case and Pettah circle inspector S.M. Riyas is leading the probe.
The police is also trying to get the IMEI number of the stolen phones with the help of the manufacturers so that the phones could be tracked. “We made similar bids during the robbery at mobile phone shops earlier. But some foreign companies would not cooperate with us. In this case also a good number of stolen phones were foreign ones, said the city commissioner. In an embarrassment to the police, the video footage of a surveillance camera also shows a police jeep passing by while the gang members were standing in front of the shop. The police commissioner said that there would be movement of people in streets by 4.30 am and hence the police team did not find the gang suspicious.
