VIJAYAWADA: The Government Railway Police (GRP) on Monday arrested a three-member gang involved in mobile phone thefts at Vijayawada railway station and recovered 10 mobile phones worth Rs 9 lakh from their possession.
Police said around 35 more phones connected to the same cases are yet to be traced.
GRP Inspector JV Ramana and Railway Protection Force (RPF) Inspector Fathe Ali Baig led a joint operation following specific intelligence and apprehended three men moving suspiciously on Platform 10 of the railway station.
Police identified the accused as Bangaru Rambabu, Vankuri Prakash alias Bujji, and Buradaganti Naveen Kranthi, all habitual offenders with a history of snatching mobile phones from passengers on running trains. Inspector Ramana said the gang used to snatch phones from passengers and get down after Vijayawada station to evade capture.
“The three accused are habitual railway offenders. After stealing the phones, Rambabu would keep them switched on and wait for the owners to call. When victims called, he pretended to be a constable from GRP or RPF, claiming the phone had been found,” he explained. Ramana said Rambabu would then collect the mobile lock code, password, and Aadhaar card details from victims under the pretext of verifying ownership. “After obtaining the details, he used them to transfer money through PhonePe or Google Pay,” he added.
The seized mobile phones were linked to at least 10 criminal cases registered in Vijayawada. The accused were produced before the railway court and remanded to judicial custody.
