Mumbai: Duo distract man by talking, make away with his phone in Andheri; held

Mumbai Police have recovered 14 mobile phones from the suspects and are further investigating the matter to verify if they were involved in more similar cases

The Mumbai Police on Thursday said that it was successful in nabbing two people who allegedly used a unique modus operandi to make away with a mobile phone of a 47-year-old man in Andheri west.

According to the police, the victim had filed a complaint with the DN Nagar police in Andheri west against an unidentified man for theft of his cell phone.

The police sources said, the complainant had told the police that on July 5, at around 9: 15 pm, when he was near Andheri railway station, an unknown man approached him and began talking to him. After sometime, he left from the spot and it was then the complainant realised that his cell phone was missing. 

They said that the complainant recollected the conversation with the man and then realised that it was merely to distract his attention to steal his mobile phone. He then reached out to the police and filed a complaint in the matter.

"In the matter, an FIR under relevant sections of the IPC was registered with the DN Nagar police. A team was formed to investigate the case," an official said. 

The team studied the CCTV footage of the spot where the incident took place and then began to trace the culprit. The police found that there was an involvement of two suspects in the theft, the suspects used a unique modus operandi to steal the cell phone of the culprit. They first distracted him by talking to him and later made away with his phone, the sources added.

The team of police officials, by using technical clues, identified the culprits and then traced them. The two were later placed under arrest, an official said.

The police suspect their involvement in other similar cases and is further interrogating the suspects to verify it, sources said.

The police said that the duo were arrested by the police and were identified as Mohammad Ali Ansari, 55 and Raju Vannappa Valmiki alias Dhangar, 26. The police have also recovered as many as 14 mobile phones from the suspects and are further investigating the matter to verify if they were involved in more similar cases in the city.

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