Mumbai: Mobile phone theft is rarely associated with efficiency manuals or assembly lines. But a seven-member ‘Dhakka Gang’ arrested by MIDC police appears to have turned pickpocketing into a carefully choreographed operation, complete with specialised job titles, role assignments and a well-rehearsed drama.The ‘Dhakka Gang’, arrested on July 30, targeted commuters travelling on crowded BEST buses along the Andheri-SEEPZ and Andheri-Ghatkopar routes.According to the police, each member had a designated role and even a nickname, allowing the group to steal expensive smartphones, priced around Rs 1 lakh, without victims realising they had been robbed.At the centre of the operation was the “machine”—the specialist who deftly lifted the phone from a passenger’s pocket. Standing alongside was the “chapper denawala”, who used a bag to shield the theft from public view. The phone was instantly handed to the “charmer”, who passed it to “boor”, whose only job was to disappear with the loot. Three or four others were known as “thekhdaar”, whose task was to keep the person surrounded.By the time the victim sensed something was amiss, the phone had already travelled through the gang’s human conveyor belt.Investigators said the gang followed an unwritten territorial divide, operating only in Andheri East and avoiding areas controlled by another mobile-snatching gang in Andheri (W).Police alleged the group stole at least 135 premium smartphones in the last month and a half and had set themselves a target of collecting 1,000 devices before refurbishing and sending them to Bangladesh and Nepal, where they were sold for roughly half their market value, making them difficult to trace. “The mobiles are sold for half the price (Rs 1 lakh are sold for Rs 50,000) in Bangladesh and Nepal. They claimed to have been operating it since year and a half,” said the police.The breakthrough came after MIDC police planted an informer who gained the gang’s confidence and monitored its movements. Acting on the information, officers laid a trap at Juinagar railway station, where the gang had temporarily shifted operations after two of its members were earlier arrested by Andheri police.“We laid a trap accordingly and nabbed them from Jui Nagar railway station where they had temporarily relocated their territory after two members of their gang were earlier arrested by Andheri police,” said a police officer of the MIDC police station.Police said the gang coordinated every morning over WhatsApp calls; they would decide which bus stops to target and assemble around noon to start their work.The arrested accused are Wasim Salim Shaikh (35), Azhar Mukim Mirza Baig (22), Firoz alias Jahid Hussain Khan (37), Dilshad Ahmed Ali Baig (28), Mubin alias M K Jahrila Babu Raza Khan (29), Abid Ali Azgar Ali Shaikh (27) and Sushil Kumar Chhatradhari Singh alias Thakur (40). The police found out that Wasim is the machine, Azhar is the chapper denawala, Firoz is the charmer, Dilshad is the Boor and the others are thekdaars.With the arrests, MIDC police said they solved two cases committed in their jurisdiction in June and July and one registered with Andheri police, and seized 135 mobile phones worth Rs 12.7 lakh stolen in the last month and a half.Police said the gang’s victims included an ONGC employee, Jagat Jyoti Mohanty (59), who was heading to his workplace on June 6 when he boarded a bus at 2.15 pm from Seepz Bus Stop in Andheri (East). The gang stole his mobile worth Rs 90,000.“CCTV footage of the crime, information was received through technical investigation and undercover informants that the said crime was committed by a gang of mobile phone thieves who hails from Shivaji Nagar, Govandi and Kalyan localities. The gang was caught on July 30 when they reached the bus stop outside Juinagar railway station to steal the mobile phones of passengers travelling in the bus,” said the police.DCP (West Zone-3) Datta Nalawade supervised the team of ACP Yogesh Shinde, senior inspector Ghanshyam Nair, inspector Sunil Karande, sub-inspector Kiran Nawle and staff, police said, adding that the team studied the gang members’ operating methods in BEST buses and how they robbed passengers using distraction.

Mumbai: A teenager was arrested by the Cyber Police in connection with a case where a computer engineer was cheated of Rs 21 lakh in a task fraud combined with a cryptocurrency trading scam. Police said the teen accused, Shaad Chauhan, received a portion of the defrauded sum into his bank account and withdrew it.Chauhan has used the same mule bank account to receive and withdraw Rs 8 lakh so far, and the police are verifying the source of this income.The complainant holds a BTech degree in computer science. He currently works as a business analyst with a private firm.On June 3, he received a text from an unknown number on WhatsApp with an offer to make some extra money by fulfilling certain tasks online. The first task was to like a food recipe video on YouTube and share its screenshot. Once the complainant agreed to do so, he was contacted on Telegram by one Vishnu Sharma. On liking the food recipe video, the complainant received Rs 150 in his bank account. He was then asked by Sharma to join a Telegram group for receiving further tasks.On completing the next five to six tasks, the complainant received Rs 600 in his bank account. The tasks comprised giving movie reviews online. By now, the complainant trusted Sharma. Next, Sharma sent him a link to another Telegram group that had more than 200 members. In this group, the members were required to pay money if they wanted to receive further tasks.The complainant paid the money and completed the tasks. He was asked to connect with Anil Wadhva for his commission. Wadhva sent him a link for a bitcoin trading portal and asked for his Aadhaar card copy for registration. The complainant created his login and password on the portal and noticed various tabs on the portal, such as balance, profit, recharge, order record, and withdrawal. Between June 3 and June 8, he transferred Rs 21.16 lakh to the portal for bitcoin trading. But he was unable to withdraw any amount. The fraudsters kept demanding more money under various pretexts, such as helping to recover his account and technical errors. Eventually, the complainant realised he had been taken for a ride and complained to the North Region Cyber Police.

Mumbai: A traffic study commissioned by the BMC amid growing demand from groups of residents living in areas around Breach Candy, Malabar Hill, Nepean Sea Road and adjoining lanes for an additional exit from the Coastal Road at Nepean Sea Road has proposed a different solution: a two-way, grade-separated flyover along Bhulabhai Desai Road instead of a new exit.According to the report, such a link would provide a far more effective long-term solution, which it also says would primarily benefit vehicles travelling from the city’s northern suburbs towards south Mumbai. The proposed flyover is expected to segregate nearly 1,109 passenger car units (PCUs) during peak hours from the busy Mukesh Chowk intersection, improving traffic flow and easing congestion, states the report.It adds that a future traffic-growth assessment would be required to ensure the flyover remains adequate for the next three decades, up to 2055.“Overall, the results suggest there is a significant need for a direct, grade-separated connection to manage this high-volume traffic. The existing at-grade intersection forces commuter traffic to mix with local traffic, creating a major bottleneck,” the report states. It further notes that traffic surveys conducted at Mukesh Chowk confirmed a substantial two-way movement between the two corridors, strengthening the case for a dedicated flyover.A BMC official said the traffic study recommends a two-way, six-lane flyover (three lanes in each direction) as a long-term solution to cater to future traffic demand and prevent the corridor from becoming a bottleneck.The civic body has, for now, ruled out providing an exit on to Nepean Sea Road based on the general consultant’s recommendations and this traffic study. Officials said there is inadequate dispersal space at the location, with the road meeting Nepean Sea Road at a right angle. “The proposed alignment would also involve multiple sharp bends, making it difficult to design a safe exit,” said an official.Officials said an exit would come very close to residential buildings along Nepean Sea Road, raising concerns over noise. The issue assumes significance against the backdrop of the controversy over the Coastal Road’s Melody Road, where residents had complained about noise. Civic officials said they do not want to create a similar situation.Another concern is that the flyover ramp could split the existing landscaped open space, reducing its utility. Officials pointed out that the proposed geometry does not comply with the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) guidelines for a safe exit because of the sharp curvature and limited available space.While the study recommends a 3+3 lane flyover to accommodate future traffic growth, the exact alignment and connectivity options will be finalised only after detailed design and further consultations.The recommendation comes even as residents continue to press for a south-bound exit at Nepean Sea Road. In March, TOI reported on the growing campaign by a group of residents living in these areas demanding an exit that they claim featured in earlier planning stages but was omitted from the final 2016 detailed project report (DPR). The citizen movement, branded ‘Unlock the Exit’, argues that the missing link has shifted congestion on to local roads, particularly around Mukesh Chowk.Commenting on the study, the group said, “The UnlockTheExit team welcomes the BMC road department’s decision to commission a traffic study as an important first step towards solving the traffic congestion caused by the Coastal Road interchange at Amarsons Garden. The study validates what over 34,000 residents from Malabar Hill, Napean Sea Road, Breach Candy and Kemps Corner have been saying all along: Mukesh Chowk was never designed to handle the additional traffic from the Coastal Road, creating the daily bottleneck that residents and commuters now face. We now urge the BMC to make the traffic study findings and details of the proposed flyover public so that there can be adequate public consultation around proposed solutions before a long-term solution is finalised.”

The student, Harshita Agarwal (19), was on a two-month vacation and travelled to Mumbai to visit her maternal uncle’s home in Jalna.

Mumbai: A first-year MBBS student and Irish citizen, whose baggage containing clothes, cosmetics and other items went missing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in June, was left depressed after the bag was allegedly stolen from inside the airport, police and family members said.The student, Harshita Agarwal (19), was on a two-month vacation and travelled to Mumbai to visit her maternal uncle’s home in Jalna. The family said Emirates Airlines showed little interest in helping recover the bag even after informing them that CCTV footage showed a man, described as a seafarer from Saudi Arabia, taking the bag and boarding a flight to Duhai.The case was registered at Sahar police station on Aug 2 after Jalna police took Agarwal’s complaint two weeks earlier and transferred the case file to Mumbai for further probe. “As the incident occurred almost a month and a half ago, our team has sought the CCTV footage to track down the person who took Agarwal’s baggage,” said a police officer of the Sahar police station.Police said there were over half a dozen similar theft cases in the last year and a half registered at Sahar and Airport police stations, but none was solved, and an insider role was suspected in the theft.Harshita’s mother, Preeti, who said the family had been staying in Ireland for the last two decades, told TOI: “For the first time we tried the costlier airline, Emirates, for our travel and this happened. We are on a two-month vacation, and now we are running around to get my daughter’s baggage as she has been under depression for the last three weeks after losing the bag. The airline informed us that they saw a man from Saudi Arabia, a seafarer, carrying my daughter’s bag. We were made to wait for three hours after we landed at Mumbai airport in June before we left with three bags while the fourth was stolen. We had filed an online complaint with Emirates Airliners but no one responded.”Preeti said the airline contacted them after they raised the issue on social media. “Immediately, the airliner called and told that they are ready to compensate. We told we want our stolen property and not interested in compensation. They are not even sharing the person’s details who took away our baggage neither they are calling him to return the bag,” said Preeti.In her complaint, Harshita said: “Since my first year of education in Ireland was completed and it was holidays, I, along with my mother named Priti and younger sister Dishita, were coming to our maternal uncle’s place in Jalna. On June 24, we reached Mumbai and after completing immigration check went to collect four bags. However, the fourth one which was mine was missing. My mother is making at least 10 calls daily to the airliner to get updates but in vain.”