Mobile IMEI changing nexus busted, 8 arrested
NEW DELHI: The IMEI number of your mobile phone is no longer safe and can be easily changed with the help of high-end software and gadgets used by criminals who have expertise in changing the IMEI of stolen mobiles.
With the arrest of eight, including a Gaffar Market businessman, the cops have seized 735 high-end mobiles worth Rs 1 crore 30 lakh along with Honda City and Santro car. Interestingly, the main accused also ran IMEI changing coaching classes and charged Rs 20,000 for the same.
Delhi’s South-east district police has arrested eight persons in total who ran a racket of not just buying and purchasing the stolen mobile phones but also were actively involved in changing the IMEI number of the snatched mobiles.
The cops have also arrested an engineer and businessman Gaurav Kumar who owns a shop in Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh who was actively involved in buying stolen mobile phones and changing their IMEI numbers.
Kumar used to erase IMEI of android phones through shopkeepers in Mewat and Punjab. He charged Rs 200-300 per phone for changing the IMEI and Rs 50 for flashing and unlocking pattern lock per mobile phone. Shopkeepers from Mewat and Punjab used to get IMEI changed from him and then sold at their respective areas. After that, one shopkeeper Gaurav Mittal from Sitaram Bazar in Old Delhi used to take the mobiles from him and sell refreshed mobile phones to various receivers or dealers in Mewat, Punjab, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. Gaurav also ran coaching classes for IMEI changing lessons and charged around Rs 20,000 for the same. “We have also arrested Gaurav Mittal and seven others and have recovered 735 stolen mobiles from their possession. Gaurav Mittal received stolen mobile phones from various gangs of pick-pocketers,” said DCP South–east Romil Baaniya.
Khalid and Irfan who ran a shop at Nuh (Mewat), Haryana were arrested from the shop of Gaurav where they came for changing the IMEI of stolen phones. As many as 70 branded stolen mobile phones were recovered from their possession. However, the cops need to work on the IMEI changing software as this might pose a bigger threat to security.