Mumbai,(The Hindu): The Government Railway Police (GRP)have busted a mobile phone theft racket being carried out during the Ganapati immersion festivities. The Dadar railway police have arrested two people connected to the case and recovered 21 phones worth Rs 4.92 lakh after catching one of them red-handed on Sunday.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Western Railway) Purushottam Karad, Harishkumar Amarsingh (30) and Sonu Sharma (28), both residents of New Delhi, came to Mumbai on Saturday with the purpose of stealing phones on Anant Chaturdashi. “There are three more in their gang, who are wanted,” he said.

On Sunday, GRP staff deployed at Chinchpokli station caught Mr. Amarsingh stealing a phone from a commuter. “During immersion time, we had deployed extra staff and anti-theft squads between Dadar and Chinchpokli stations to deal with the extra rush those stations get since several well-known pandals are in the area,” Mr. Karad said.

Mr. Amarsingh told the police that he had four associates and they were staying in a lodge in Don Taanki. “We raided the room and arrested Mr. Sharma,” Mr. Karad said. He said the police have identified owners of seven of the 21 mobile phones found in the room. “But several phones are password protected and the accused have thrown away the SIM cards, making the process harder,” he said.

According to the police, the accused are likely to have stolen all the phones between Dadar and Chinchpokli on Sunday. Mr. Amarsingh is a taxi driver in New Delhi, while Mr. Sharma used to work at the amusement park Appu Ghar, but is currently unemployed, Mr. Karad said.