Mumpai Police exposes racket where high-end phones, iPhones stolen from Mumbai's Sion and Nair hospitals are sold at Indo-Bangladesh border
Alleged ‘phone lifter’ Tipu Sultan (squatting) in police custody
A 19-year-old MBBS student lost her iPhone 16 outside Sion Hospital, but what made the case tricky was this: she never saw the thief. On February 27, around 12.40 pm, she had stepped into a stationery shop near Gate No. 7 on Bhau Daji Road after lunch with friends. Within minutes, her device, kept in her pocket, vanished. With no accused, no description, and a crowded public location, the case began as a blind investigation by the Sion police.
(From left to right) PSI Kiran Bhosle and API Dattaray Khade travel by train from Mumbai to West Bengal. PICS/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
But it wasn’t an isolated theft. Four days earlier, a 26-year-old doctor at Nair Hospital had reported an almost identical incident. Around 9.45 am, while walking through the OPD building passage, her iPhone 16, kept in her apron pocket, was stolen without her noticing. The Agripada police had begun a parallel probe. Sensing a pattern, Zone IV of the Mumbai Police, under the direction of Deputy Commissioner of Police Ragasudha R, formed a special team to crack the case.
The investigation
As police officers scanned multiple CCTV camera feeds, tracking suspicious movement rather than the act itself, a trail began to emerge — one that led them to Andheri. There, at a small lodge, police identified the suspects’ hideout and pieced together their movements. The cops learnt that the accused had flown into Mumbai from West Bengal days before the theft at Nair Hospital, stayed at the lodge, executed the thefts, and exited the city just as swiftly, via the connecting flights from Mumbai to Siliguri and then Kolkata.
Members of the police team who cracked the case
The strike
The team, led by Senior Police Inspector Anant Salunke of Sion police station, along with Crime PI Sanjay Jagtap and officers including PSI Kiran Bhosle, API Dattaray Khade and PSI Atul Thombare, launched a coordinated technical and field probe. PSI Bhosle, who spent nearly 10 days in West Bengal tracking the accused, said, “There were more than three of them”
In West Bengal
Based on technical leads, the police team first traced the trail to Asansol, then Kolkata, and eventually to Kaliachak, a community development block in West Bengal’s Malda district. “The notoriety of Kaliachak is that illegal activities take place there openly,” said Crime PI Sanjay Jagtap. “One of the main hubs is a ‘chor bazaar’ for high-end mobile phones, where stolen devices are sold.” But the probe revealed a deeper network. “To our surprise, the stolen phones were not just sold within the village. They were being routed to the Indo-Bangladesh border, close to Kaliachak,” Jagtap added.
Gruelling hunt
The police team faced harsh conditions while operating in Malda. Continuous showers and poor public transport made movement difficult. There were days when officers were on the ground for hours, carrying out recce and human intelligence gathering, surviving on minimal food and sleep. At one point, members of the team remained awake for over four days as they tracked the accused across locations.
The detention
After days of surveillance and a cat-and-mouse chase, the police team managed to detain one accused, Tipu Sultan, 34, who was the “phone lifter”. “It’s a well-coordinated operation,” said PSI Bhosle. “There are handlers, instructors, recce men, and pickpockets who execute the theft on the ground. Sultan is the one who stole the phones, while his brother, Salman Shaikh, was the handler. The latter is absconding.” The search is on for other gang members.
The ‘business model’ of gang
According to the police, the gang would spend around Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000 on flight tickets to reach Mumbai, and another Rs 5000 or more on lodge stays. “They specifically targeted high-end mobile phones, typically priced between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh, which were later sold near the Indo-Bangladesh border,” an officer said.
Timeline
Feb 23 Theft at Nair Hospital
Feb 27 Theft at Sion Hospital
March 1 Accused leave Mumbai with loot
March 9 Police team reaches West Bengal following technical analysis
March 16 Accused Tipu Sultan is traced and arrested
March 17 One team returns to Mumbai with the accused on transit remand
March 20 Remaining officers, including PSI Kiran Bhosle, return after continuing the probe
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