Ranchi: The Lalpur Police have busted a gang that exploited children for theft and begging, arresting one person on Thursday. Two children were rescued during the operation after one was caught stealing a mobile phone and revealed the gang’s activities to the authorities.
Ranchi (City) SP Rajkumar Mehta said the child told the police that many other children like him live in rented houses in Ranchi and are engaged in stealing and begging across the city. Shivji Mahato, a resident of Sahibganj and his accomplice, Dev, forced them to do so, he added. Following this, a team of Ranchi police conducted a raid on the hideout of Mahato which led to the seizure of 32 stolen mobiles and rescue of two children from the spot. While one child has been sent to the juvenile home, two others have been handed over to the CWC. Mahato has been nabbed while his accomplice is still at large.
Teen Pahadi, a small town in the Sahibganj district of Jharkhand, is infamous for housing professional thieves who target big fairs across the state to steal mobiles. Recently, Ranchi hosted a Khadi fair where visitors reported to the police about mobile theft by children.
Mehta said the children are trained to steal in Teen Pahad and are brought to Ranchi to target people at large congregations. The parents of the children also get a share of the booty.
The members of the Teen Pahad gang roam around Ranchi and other cities to carry out mobile thefts. When the number of stolen mobiles reaches 100, they are handed over to an agent from Sahibganj. During interrogation, the accused revealed to the police that a child used to get commissions of Rs 3,000 for stealing a cell phone worth Rs 10,000, Rs 7,000 for a phone of Rs 20,000 and Rs 20,000 along with a gift for a phone worth over Rs 50,000.
Not only children but even women are engaged in stealing phones from shopping malls and handing them over to a male gang member waiting outside.
The gang, which operates in different parts of the country, sends a batch of three to four people to different cities and changes location after a sizeable number of thefts are committed.
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