Mumbai : The Property Cell of Mumbai police has busted a racket that tampered with IMEI numbers in mobile phones. Two people were arrested after the officials raided a mobile repair shop in Bandra.
In the raid conducted at midnight on Wednesday, the team recovered 136 phones and six machines used for tampering the software. The phones included 14 iPhones, whose locks would be cracked by the duo and later tampered with. The arrested identified as Mohsin Shaikh, 30, and Mehmood Shafiq, 22 are alleged to have political connections. The officials have also revealed that Shaikh and Shafiq form a vital link between robbers who regularly steal mobile phones and gangs that transport the tampered phones to other states.
“The accused would buy the phones and tamper with their IMEI numbers with the help of the machines. They would then sell these tampered phones gangs. The phones would invariably be sold in Goa and Rajasthan,” said a crime branch officer. The officials are also looking into trips made by Shaikh to Bangkok and China to ascertain whether these were connected to the racket.