Inter-State Gang Busted: 7 Arrested for Stealing RRUs from Mobile Towers
Nalasopara: The Police Officials of Crime Branch Unit 3 attached to the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar Police Commissionerate has cracked down on an inter-state gang responsible for stealing remote radio units (RRUs) from mobile towers across Maharashtra, Bihar, and other states. Seven gang members were arrested, and a total of 36 machines/cards (RRU's) installed on the mobile tower for radio frequency worth forty lakh rupees have been seized from the possession of the accused arrested.
In response to the surge in theft reports of remote radio unit (RRU) from mobile towers in Mira-Bhayander and Vasai-Virar Police Commissionerate's jurisdiction over the past few months, senior police officials ordered an thorough investigation. Accordingly, the Crime Branch Unit 3 conducted a technical analysis and gathered confidential intelligence, leading to the arrest of seven individuals.
The accused, indentified as Shubham Yadav (24), Shailesh Yadav (25), Kapurchand Gupta (25), Bansilal Jain (50), Zakir Mallik (25), Zaid Mallik (19) and Junaid Mallik (24), were apprehended from various locations in Mumbai, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.
The investigation has revealed that the accused have been stealing a large number of RRU's in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar-Nalasopara area since last one year and are illegally selling the stolen machines in the international market of Hong Kong and China.
Later which the software and hardware of the stolen RRUs were reprogramed and sold back again in the black market at a higher price. Presently, 36 RRUs stolen from the state of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Punjab, Goa etc. have been recovered from the arrested accused.
Kingpin still at large?
The gang is allegedly led by Kingpin Javed Mirapuriya aka Javed Malik who is involved in operations of the gang, however police are still unable to establish connection between the arrested accused and javed in the said case. He is believed to be in Dubai. Delhi Police have placed a reward of 1 Lakh on him.
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Javed Mirapuriya aka Javed Malik |
Javed began as a scrap dealer in Delhi. About five years ago, he started to get the gang together by incentivising a few of his acquaintances, mostly scrap dealers or small businessmen, in Delhi-NCR to sell RRUs in exchange for a significant profit. Recently, he bought a flat worth Rs 70 crore in the UAE city.
Threat to Digital India Initiative & National Security
These thefts pose a significant threat to Digital India initiative and the rapid rollout of 5G networks. Stringent measures are necessary to protect infrastructure crucial for India’s digital future,” said a senior official of a telecom company.
Sources also claimed that the possibility of establishing a private network connection from such stolen units for networking illegal activities cannot be denied. These private networks can also become a threat in the view of National Security as well, the local police authorities should immediately inform the central intelligence agencies without any delay.
Currently, 20 such cases of RRU's theft have been cracked by the team of Crime Branch Unit 3 led by Police Inspector Pramod Badakh following the arrest of the above mentioned seven accused. The accused are in police custody, with further investigations underway.
