Overview
- Police made the arrests on Tuesday during a routine check near Kakrala in the Noida Phase 2 jurisdiction, recovering 821 high-end phones worth an estimated Rs 6–8 crore.
- The adults were identified as Govinda Mahto, Rohit Saini, Shyam Kumar Rai, Bhartiya Mahto, Shekhar Mahto, and Pradeep Kumar, with two juveniles also detained.
- A case was registered under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions, the six adults were sent to judicial custody, and the minors were produced before the competent authority.
- According to officers, the gang targeted crowded NCR markets and weekly bazaars during winter, using quick hand-offs in groups to defeat on-the-spot recovery.
- Police said the group stayed in short-term rentals to aggregate devices, moved consignments by train to Jharkhand and Bihar, and sold many phones in Nepal, with most recovered units being OnePlus followed by iPhones.