Mumbai: Malad Police nabs two tak-tak gang members, recover 21 stolen phones

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The Malad Police in Mumbai arrested two notorious tak-tak gang members, who traveled from Meerut to Mumbai solely to steal mobile phones and other valuables, the police said.

The gang used tactics to distract drivers at slow speeds or traffic signals to execute their thefts.

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The police have recovered 21 valuable mobile phones from the possession of the arrested accused and solved around 17 cases that the gang had committed in Mumbai city in recent times, including three cases in Malad, an official said.

The arrested accused have been identified as Faheem Shamim Shaikh (35) and Mohammed Faheem Khan (39).

According to police sources, during the investigation of a recent case, the police obtained CCTV footage and, using call data records and tower location of the mobile phone, traced the suspect Shaikh first last week. During his interrogation, the crime was revealed.

The duo are originally from Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh. The gang members used to visit the city and stay in low-grade guesthouses in various parts of the city, especially in the Nagpada area, an official said.

Some members of the gang live in the city, and the members keep changing from time to time. The gang members come to Mumbai and take delivery of the mobile phones stolen by the gang and hand them over to another gang that buys the stolen phones from them.

The phones are not reused but their parts are removed and sold in the market. This is the reason why phones that are being stolen on a large scale cannot be traced, said an officer from Malad police station.

The gang has a unique tactic: they would lurk around junctions and signals, and when a car drove past them at speed, they would flag it down, knock on the driver's window, accuse him of rash driving, and start an argument, forcing him to get out of the car. While one man kept the driver busy in the argument, the other would sneak near the car, rob the driver's phone or other valuables, and flee.

In recent months, the Taktak gang members have been active in the city on a very large scale. The cases were repeatedly increasing. Under the guidance of DCP Anand Bhoite and Senior Inspector Ravindra Adhane, PSI Shivaji Shinde and Tushar Sukhdev, along with their detection team, managed to trace the accused and have recovered 21 valuable phones and solved 17 cases across the city.

"We have arrested the duo under various sections of the IPC. They were produced before the court and have been remanded in police custody. We are on the lookout for the other gang members," said another officer from Malad police station.