On New Year’s Eve, Calangute cops arrested 12 suspected thieves and recovered 55 cellphones from them, totaling almost Rs 15 lakh.
The suspects were apprehended on suspicion by police who were on patrol after being seen acting suspiciously at Calangute Beach on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1, according to Calangute PI Dattaguru Sawant.
He claimed that when he questioned them, “they could not justify their presence in the area and also they could not justify the possession of smartphones found in their possession.”
They were found to be in possession of 55 different brand phones, each valued Rs 15 lakh.
“The suspects were questioned in order to confirm whether they had cell phones in their possession, and placed under arrest in accordance with CrPC Section 41. Further investigation is being conducted, the PI stated.
The suspects have been identified as West Bengal natives Rashid Mulla (age 21), an Assagao resident, Mazid Miah (age 29), Meneraf Mulla (19), Kharijun; Islam Mulla (age 34), and Santu Mulla (age 22), all of whom live in Calangute. In addition to Murli Singh (19), from Uttar Pradesh, there were also Adil Malik Kazim (30) and Mohammad Shabaz Manjuri (27), both from Delhi, Arvind Gaikwad (37), Ajay Jadhav (40), Rehman Jalauddin Ansari (21) and Nasir Shaikh (34), all from Mumbai.
With the arrest of the 12 on Saturday night, Calangute police have now detained 29 alleged cellphone thieves in the final three days of December, and mobile phones worth Rs 65 lakh have been confiscated from their possession.
Police report that during the Christmas-New Year holiday period, a huge number of petty thieves congregate in the Calangute-Candolim coastal zone to prey on unwary tourists.
