The Oshiwara Police have arrested a 25-year-old accused and recovered as many as 89 stolen mobile phones from his possession.
According to police officials, the accused, identified as Akshay Raju Dugalj, confessed during interrogation that he had stolen mobile phones from the Andheri to Goregaon belt over the past few months. He had kept all the stolen phones in a plastic bag inside a room in Goregaon and was looking for customers to sell them.
The case came to light after complainant Rahul Mishra (34), who works as a manager at a hotel in Oshiwara, reported that his mobile phone worth ₹50,000 was stolen from the hotel premises on August 28. Following his complaint on Friday, Police Sub-Inspector Deepak Thorat tracked down the accused with the help of technical evidence. A team comprising Police Constables Anand Pawar, Dhananjay Jagdale, and Vinod Rathod nabbed Dugalj and recovered Mishra’s stolen phone from him.
During a search at the accused’s residence in Anand Nagar, Jogeshwari, police found six more stolen mobile phones. On further interrogation, Dugalj admitted to stealing an additional 83 phones from different houses in Anand Nagar (Goregaon-West), Andheri (West), and Bangur Nagar. These phones were stored in a plastic bag and hidden near a drain, officials said.
Senior Inspector Sanjay Chavan of Oshiwara Police Station confirmed that the accused has been arrested, and investigations are underway to determine whether others were involved in the thefts. Police are also tracing the rightful owners of the stolen phones through their IMEI numbers, after which the devices will be returned following due legal procedure.
Preliminary investigation has revealed Dugalj’s involvement in at least 13 theft cases, though police suspect he may be linked to several more. Further probe is on.