Bhubaneswar: Infocity Police in Bhubaneswar busted an inter-district gang targeting examination aspirants, arresting three persons and recovering a stolen scooter, 26 mobile phones, and 43 dismantled mobile displays and 48 motherboards.
The arrested accused have been identified as Dushmanta Subuddhi, Rakesh Kumar Sahu and Manas Behera. Police seized 26 mobile phone handsets, a stolen scooter.
Police said the gang targeted students appearing for examinations at various centres in Bhubaneswar. While candidates left their mobile phones on scooters and other vehicles before entering examination halls, Dushmanta allegedly stole the devices and fled. Police said he had been committing such thefts for around one-and-a-half years.
The stolen phones were allegedly taken to Bapujinagar, where Dushmanta handed them over to Rakesh. Police suspect that Rakesh dismantled the handsets and sold their components to avoid detection. Even branded and expensive phones were allegedly sold for around Rs 5,000-6,000.
Police further found that Dushmanta allegedly spent the proceeds on hotel stays and games and also carried out PhonePe transactions using some of the stolen phones.
The case came to light after an aspirant for the NEET PG examination, reported the theft of his scooter and mobile phone during the exam at a centre in Patia area of the city.