Pune: Police Pimpri Chinchwad on Monday arrested three construction workers from Thane to break into two showrooms in electronic equipment in Bhosari earlier this month and steal 244 cellphones and LED TVs, worth RS61 Lak.
The Bhosari police team led by Senior Inspector Bhaskar Jadhav checked the recording of 125 CCTV cameras and traced the suspects to Thane.
Ravindra Bhavari Sub-Inspector and the team put the trap in Thane and caught the trio.
The police recovered 213 stolen handsets and LED TVs, collectively worth RS59 Lakh from the suspects – Janib-Ul-Haque Ali (33), Jabbar Ali (21) and Jehangir Shaikh (32) – all currently living on construction sites in Thane, Initially from West Bengal.
Two of their hands walked.
“The police team has visited Jharkhand to arrest the duo.
However, they fled,” said an officer from Police Bhosari.
In the early hours of January 4, two members of the gang had entered the showroom of electronic equipment in Bhosari by cutting the tin roof and stealing a high-end smartphone worth RS55 Lakh.
Thieves also damage the closed circuit television camera (CCTV) at the facility.
After 10 days, they entered another showroom and stole 21 upscale smartphones and LED television, collectively worth RS5.71 Lakh.
Explaining gang mode, Jadhav said that during the day, the gang was used to work on a construction site in Thane and then came to Pune at night to recce from the showroom of electronic equipment.
“Then at night, they will enter the showroom and steal the handset,” Jadhav said.
“The probe also revealed that the gang was also involved in stealing handsets from other cities in Maharashtra and also from other states.
They used to sell stolen handsets in Bangladesh,” Jadhav added.