Sion and Nair Hospital iPhone heists solved; suspect Tipu Sultan detained

A 19yearold MBBS student lost her iPhone 16 outside Sion Hospital but what made the case tricky was this she never saw the thief On February 27 around 1240 pm she had stepped into a stationery shop near Gate No 7 on Bhau Daji Road after lunch with friends Within minutes her device kept in her pocket vanished With no accused no description and a crowded public location the case began as a blind investigation by the Sion policeFrom left to right PSI Kiran Bhosle and API Dattaray Khade travel by train from Mumbai to West Bengal PICSBY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTBut it wasnrsquot an isolated theft Four days earlier a 26yearold doctor at Nair Hospital had reported an almost identical incident Around 945 am while walking through the OPD building passage her iPhone 16 kept in her apron pocket was stolen without her noticing The Agripada police had begun a parallel probe Sensing a pattern Zone IV of the Mumbai Police under the direction of Deputy Commissioner of Police Ragasudha R formed a special team to crack the caseThe investigationAs police officers scanned multiple CCTV camera feeds tracking suspicious movement rather than the act itself a trail began to emerge mdash one that led them to Andheri There at a small lodge police identified the suspectsrsquo hideout and pieced together their movements The cops learnt that the accused had flown into Mumbai from West Bengal days before the theft at Nair Hospital stayed at the lodge executed the thefts and exited the city just as swiftly via the connecting flights from Mumbai to Siliguri and then KolkataMembers of the police team who cracked the caseThe strikeThe team led by Senior Police Inspector Anant Salunke of Sion police station along with Crime PI Sanjay Jagtap and officers including PSI Kiran Bhosle API Dattaray Khade and PSI Atul Thombare launched a coordinated technical and field probe PSI Bhosle who spent nearly 10 days in West Bengal tracking the accused said ldquoThere were more than three of themrdquoIn West BengalBased on technical leads the police team first traced the trail to Asansol then Kolkata and eventually to Kaliachak a community development block in West Bengalrsquos Malda district ldquoThe notoriety of Kaliachak is that illegal activities take place there openlyrdquo said Crime PI Sanjay Jagtap ldquoOne of the main hubs is a lsquochor bazaarrsquo for highend mobile phones where stolen devices are soldrdquo But the probe revealed a deeper network ldquoTo our surprise the stolen phones were not just sold within the village They were being routed to the IndoBangladesh border close to Kaliachakrdquo Jagtap addedGruelling huntThe police team faced harsh conditions while operating in Malda Continuous showers and poor public transport made movement difficult There were days when officers were on the ground for hours carrying out recce and human intelligence gathering surviving on minimal food and sleep At one point members of the team remained awake for over four days as they tracked the accused across locationsThe detentionAfter days of surveillance and a catandmouse chase the police team managed to detain one accused Tipu Sultan 34 who was the ldquophone lifterrdquo ldquoItrsquos a wellcoordinated operationrdquo said PSI Bhosle ldquoThere are handlers instructors recce men and pickpockets who execute the theft on the ground Sultan is the one who stole the phones while his brother Salman Shaikh was the handler The latter is abscondingrdquo The search is on for other gang membersThe lsquobusiness modelrsquo of gangAccording to the police the gang would spend around Rs 14000 to Rs 16000 on flight tickets to reach Mumbai and another Rs 5000 or more on lodge stays ldquoThey specifically targeted highend mobile phones typically priced between Rs 80000 and Rs 15 lakh which were later sold near the IndoBangladesh borderrdquo an officer saidTimelineFeb 23 Theft at Nair HospitalFeb 27 Theft at Sion HospitalMarch 1 Accused leave Mumbai with lootMarch 9 Police team reaches West Bengal following technical analysisMarch 16 Accused Tipu Sultan is traced and arrestedMarch 17 One team returns to Mumbai with the accused on transit remandMarch 20 Remaining officers including PSI Kiran Bhosle return after continuing the probe