Police uncover links between cattle theft gang and mobile phone racket, arrest nine suspects

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Hyderabad city police commissioner VC Sajjanar along with the Task Force officers and the siezed items during the press conference of the case on Saturday (September 19). | Photo Credit: By Arrangement

A gang allegedly involved in 13 cattle thefts across Telangana and another group targeting mobile phone shops were found to have overlapping members, with stolen phones eventually being routed through an alleged disposal network extending from Mumbai to Bangladesh.

Nine persons connected to the offences were apprehended in a joint operation by the Commissioner’s Task Force, Jubilee Hills Zone, and Khammam police. Three others, including a Bangladesh national, are absconding.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said that they have linked the accused to 17 cases and seized 15 mobile phones, three cars, ₹22 lakh in cash and a number plate.

The cattle-theft group allegedly operated across Nagarkurnool, Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda districts, including the Future City area. Md. Tabrez, 40, and Mohd. Rafeeq, 54, were allegedly involved in all 13 cases, while Mohammed Zubair Akthar, 30, and Mohammed Naveed, 24, participated in some of them.

The gang allegedly targeted isolated cattle sheds late at night, particularly during Ramzan and Bakrid when demand was higher. “They administered Xylazine, a sedative, to make the cattle drowsy before loading them into vehicles. P. Sai Reddy, 35, who worked at a medical shop, allegedly supplied the injections,” said the commissioner.

After Ramzan and Bakrid, Tabrez and Rafeeq allegedly shifted from cattle thefts to shutter-lifting thefts at mobile phone shops and joined hands with Mumbai-based Farahan Shaik, 37.

After an unsuccessful attempt to break into a mobile phone store in Vijayawada, the trio allegedly targeted a shop in Khammam on June 11. The stolen phones were subsequently disposed of through Mumbai-based intermediaries for around ₹20 lakh, police said.

In July, Tabrez and Rafeeq, along with another associate, allegedly committed two similar thefts at mobile phone shops in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. The group later conducted reconnaissance for another theft in Gujarat, but abandoned the attempt after noticing police patrols. They allegedly met with an accident while trying to evade the police and abandoned their vehicle, which was being used with a fake registration number.

The investigation into the mobile phone thefts subsequently led police to an alleged disposal network in Mumbai. Mohd. Zahed Khan alias Raja Bhai, 34, allegedly procured stolen phones through intermediaries and routed them further.

Police said the phones were packed into parcels and transported by road or bus towards Kolkata before being smuggled through unauthorised waterways into Bangladesh.