Tamil Nadu: Police recover 2,300 stolen cellphones

Chennai: In one of the biggest recoveries of stolen mobile phones in the city, the City Police on Sunday nabbed a 40-year-old pawnshop owner cum used mobile phone seller from Adambakkam and seized over 2,300 mobile phones from him. His 24-year-old associate, a resident of Palavakkam, who had been snatching mobile phones and chains from people was also arrested by the police.

The police identified the arrested pawn broker as Hanumanth Ram, a native of Rajashtan who was running his business in Adambakkam. He was a 'fence' receiving stolen mobile phones from Praveen Kumar who was caught by the police in connection with a chain snatching incident in Kanathur. It was during questioning that Praveen Kumar had confessed that he used to snatch mobile phones as well from his victims. He also confessed that he was selling the stolen mobile phones to Hanumanth Ram.

When police questioned Hanumanth Ram, the investigators came to know that he was mainly dealing with stolen mobile phones and recovered 2,300 phones from him. “The phones were kept in a big gunny bag,” police said. Praveen was selling Android smart phones for Rs 1,000 and regular phones for Rs 350 to receiver Hanumanth Ram for the last two years. He used to target couples visiting beaches off East Coast Road and would snatch their mobile phones.

The receiver on his side used to take the phones to his native state and sold the same at a decent margin. “We believe Praveen was just one of the many with whom Hanumanth Ram was dealing. Hanumanth Ram avoided selling such phones in Tamil Nadu so that state police would not be able track IMEI numbers easily,” police sources said. He also used to dismantle phones and sell the parts as well.