IMEI changing racket: 100 more mobiles found

Surat: Investigation into the racket of changing international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) number of stolen mobile phones and selling them again in the open market, police have recovered 100 mobile phones worth Rs 2.84 lakh from Janta Market in Athwa police station.

The original IMEI numbers of these phones were changed by a 20-year-old mobile hacker, who learnt the technique from internet, the probe revealed. So far police have arrested five accused in connection with the racket that was busted earlier this month.

Those arrested include Mohammad Shakil Iqbal Memon (31), Salman Mohammad Sopariwala (27), Shailesh Parmar (31), Imran Shaikh (29) and Devendra alias Deva Hasumal Tusavada (20). Memon, an employee at a mobile phone shop, was nabbed from Unique Telecom in Janta Market on January 2. From Memon, police seized phones whose IMEI numbers were changed and he was selling them at his shop. It revealed that Memon worked at shop of Sopariwala.

Probe also revealed that Shaikh purchased stolen phones and sold it to Sopariwala, who gave it to Parmar to change the IMEI number. Parmar gave the phones to mobile phone hacker Tusavada and got the IMEI numbers changed. Later, the phones were returned to Sopariwala, who sold it in Janta Market.

“It is an important detection by the city police and this has uncovered a racket on how stolen mobile phones were sold in city after changing its IMEI number,” city police commissioner Satish Sharma said. tnn