Now Reading: Mumbai pickpocket gang used daily WhatsApp code to avoid police
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Mumbai pickpocket gang used daily WhatsApp code to avoid police
Mumbai police arrested the ‘Dhakka gang’ of pickpockets who used daily-changing WhatsApp codes to coordinate thefts on BEST buses. The Times of India reports that gang members would send each other seemingly…
The Story in Brief
Mumbai police arrested the ‘Dhakka gang’ of pickpockets who used daily-changing WhatsApp codes to coordinate thefts on BEST buses. The Times of India reports that gang members would send each other seemingly innocent phrases such as 'uncle sends his regards' or 'how is the weather today?' to check if it was safe to proceed and if any member had been caught by police.
The MIDC police team recovered 135 high-end smartphones valued between Rs 90,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh each. The gang avoided stealing iPhones because they are harder to unlock and have low resale value in their intended markets in Bangladesh and Nepal.
The Indian Opinion
The narrative of criminals using high-tech methods is often exaggerated. Here, the technology was used only for daily status checks, not for the thefts themselves, which remained old-fashioned distraction work. The real story is that 135 phones were stolen before the gang was caught. The question for Mumbai police is not how creative the codes were, but how many such gangs still operate undetected on the bus network.
Sources (2): timesofindia.indiatimes.com, hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
