UK minister Sajid reveals he was mugged in London

Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid on Sunday revealed that he was mugged on the streets of London for his mobile phone.

In an interview with the ‘Sun on Sunday' newspaper, the Pakistani-origin Cabinet member said he is looking into giving police more power to pursue so-called moped gangs of thieves, notorious for grabbing mobile phones in London and other cities of Britain.

Speaking of the incident, which happened a couple of years ago, he said: "I was angry and upset but thought myself lucky not to have been stabbed or beaten up like many other victims who fall prey to these vicious criminals."

As part of their modus operandi, these typically twomember gangs ride up on to pavements and grab unsuspecting people's phones from their hands and speed off.

Javid relived a similar episode he encountered outside Euston station in central London as he reached for his phone to call a taxi when the thieves rode on to the pavement and grabbed his phone and zoomed off. "It happened in a flash… Before I knew what was happening, it (the phone) had gone. They just rode up, grabbed it and zoomed off," said Javid, who took charge of the UK Home Office in April and is in charge of policing and security in his ministerial role. Among Home Office proposals announced police drivers are being given more legal protection to smash the "myth" that officers cannot pursue riders who are not wearing helmets.