Two months after they busted an interstate gang involved in theft of expensive telecom equipment from 5G mobile towers, the crime branch unit (Zone III) attached to the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police arrested nine people who stole batteries from the cabins of mobile towers and sold them to scrap dealers. Alarmed by the rise in cases of equipment thefts from mobile towers, MBVV chief- Madhukar Pandey directed the crime branch unit to conduct parallel investigations and nab the culprits at the earliest.

The gang had recently stolen 24 electrical back-up batteries from the cabin of a mobile tower in Bhalivali village. A team led by police inspector-Pramod Badhakh started investigations into the case and on the virtue of electronic surveillance apprehended seven members of the gang including- Sant Kumar Rajbhar (41), Ajit Mankar (32), Akash Pandey (29), Navnath Uttekar (32), Ajay Ghadi (24), Sudip Rajbhar (30) and Bullu Rajbhar (37)- all residents of the Virar-Nalasopara belt who were employed with a mobile tower servicing company.

Based on the information provided by the accused the police nabbed two scrap dealers- Ramesh Surat Singh (37) and Kishore Purabiya (34) who purchased the stolen batteries and other equipment. Investigations revealed the involvement of the gang members in six similar thefts committed by them in Vasai, Virar and Boisar.

An offence under section 303 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) for theft has been registered at the Mandvi police station against the accused who have been remanded to custody. Further investigations were on.