Bhubaneswar: Infocity police have busted a three-member gang allegedly involved in stealing mobile phones and two-wheelers from outside examination centres in the capital city and arrested three persons, officials said.
The arrested accused have been identified as Dushmanta Subuddhi, Rakesh Kumar Sahu and Manas Behera. Police seized 26 mobile phone handsets, a stolen scooter, 43 mobile displays and 48 motherboards from their possession.
According to the investigation, the gang allegedly targeted students appearing for examinations at various centres in Bhubaneswar. While candidates left their mobile phones on scooters before entering examination halls, Dushmanta allegedly stole the devices and fled. Police said he had been committing such thefts for around one-and-a-half years.
The stolen phones were allegedly taken to Bapujinagar, where Dushmanta handed them over to Rakesh. Police suspect that Rakesh dismantled the handsets and sold their components to avoid detection. Even branded and expensive phones were allegedly sold for around Rs 5,000-6,000.
Police further found that Dushmanta allegedly spent the proceeds on hotel stays and games and also carried out PhonePe transactions using some of the stolen phones.
The case came to light after Dr Shubhamay Bera, who had gone to Anthem Global, IDZI, at Patia to appear for the NEET PG examination, reported the theft of his Honda Activa scooter and mobile phone during the examination.
Following registration of a case at Infocity police station, police launched an investigation and arrested the three accused. Two mobile phones were seized from Dushmanta, 18 handsets along with 43 displays and 48 motherboards from Rakesh, and six handsets from Manas.
Infocity police are continuing the investigation to ascertain whether the accused specifically targeted online examination centres and whether other persons or gangs were involved in the theft network.
