300 Stolen Mobiles Supplied to IMEI Tampering Gangs

Hyderabad: Cyberabad police have arrested a former RTC employee Garadi Ramanji, a habitual offender. The police found that a few days before he landed in the police net, has disposed of around 300 mobile phones including high end mobile phones belonging to reputed brands. He was involved in buying stolen mobile phones at cheap rates and selling them to gangs in Hyderabad, who tampered with their IMEIs and sold them at high prices.

Prima facie probe revealed that gangs involved in tampering with IMEIs of mobile phones usually operate from Mumbai, but it seems that  have now started operating in the city also. It could also be that their people deployed here, to collect the stolen mobile phones from the suppliers and ship them to Mumbai for further technical procedures and disposal.

Police also suspect that stolen mobile phones are shipped to neighbouring states making it difficult for the local police to go behind them and trace them.

Since the 563 mobiles recovered from Ramanji on his arrest are supplied to him by pickpocket gangs operating in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Cyberabad police have initiated the process to write to the respective state police departments, in an attempt to ensure the mobiles are handed over to their owners.

Police have however ruled out that these mobiles after changing IMEI numbers are shipped abroad. “ Though this aspect cannot be completely ruled out, there is no such indication or evidence at this stage of investigation,” investigators told Deccan Chronicle.

Meanwhile, the hunt to nab the Hyderabad based receivers Asif and Arshad is on. Once they are caught, more details about how the mobiles are tampered and where they are transported would be known, they opined.