Delhi police bust gang that stole radio remote units from mobile towers; solve 46 cases

New Delhi: With the arrest of four men, including the kingpin, the Delhi police on Wednesday claimed to have busted the Puneet Bombay gang that stole expensive ‘radio remote units’ (RRU) installed at the mobile towers, and solved 46 theft cases registered in the national capital and its periphery.

The accused were identified as Puneet Kumar a.k.a Bombay, Parveen Rana a.k.a Sonu Thakur, Sumit Rana and a receiver of stolen RRUs, Salman.

The police have also recovered four stolen RRUs valued at Rs. 24 lakhs, 12 high-tech hardware and software tools from the possession of the accused.

The RRU is the equipment installed in the mobile towers of mobile service providers and it is used as a transceiver in telecommunications which combines the functioning of transmission/receiving of mobile signals.

According to the police, keeping in view the rising thefts of RRUs in the recent past a team was formed to nab the people involved in this new kind of theft in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida.

The police team visited the locations of the thefts and collected CCTV footage. “The gathered information was then analysed both manually and technically, leading to the revelation of mobile numbers belonging to some suspects,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rakesh Paweriya.

By examining their call detail records (CDRs), the police team established the routes taken by the suspects to reach the crime scenes, along with the corresponding timings.

“Subsequently, the team successfully identified the three thieves. Further analysis of the CDRs showed that the mobile numbers of these suspects were also active in the areas from which the RRUs were stolen,” said the DCP.

On March 16, with the assistance of technical resources and local intelligence, the police intercepted three suspects — Puneet, Praveen, and Sumit—as they were travelling to Ghaziabad via Loni Gol Chakkar in a Ford Figo car.

“A search of their vehicle yielded three stolen RRUs, sophisticated hardware/software tools used for breaking and removing RRUs from mobile towers, various types of ropes, including those equipped with safety belts and hooks/pulleys,” said the DCP.

Consequently, all three suspects were apprehended. “Later the same day, based on information provided by the arrested suspects, another individual named Salman was apprehended at Bhopura Border, along with the recovery of an additional stolen RRU,” said the DCP.

During interrogation, the trio confessed that they had previously worked as private labourers installing mobile towers in various parts of North India, providing them with the expertise needed to install and remove RRUs.

“They were also aware of the high value of these RRUs and their demand in the international market. Over time, they came into contact with receivers of stolen RRUs, who incentivized them to steal and supply the equipment in exchange for significant sums of money,” said the DCP.

It was also revealed that all the three thieves — Puneet alias Bombay, Sumit, and Praveen — had been previously arrested in similar cases.

The DCP said that the gang targeted mobile towers located in remote areas. After conducting a thorough reconnaissance for 2-3 days, they would arrive at the location during off-peak hours in a vehicle loaded with equipment and proceed to steal the RRUs from the targeted towers.

“Subsequently, they would sell the stolen RRUs to various receivers, including the arrested receiver, Salman,” the DCP added.