Detectives bust stolen phone racket; Indians arrested

The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested ten individuals, including nine Indian nationals, in connection with selling and trafficking stolen phones and various goods.

The group is accused of operating a two-way smuggling operation, trafficking stolen Bangladeshi phones to India and stolen Indian phones to Bangladesh, said officers.

The details of the operation were revealed at a press briefing yesterday by Detective Branch Additional Commissioner Harun Or Rashid held at a residence in Badda, Dhaka.

Harun Or Rashid informed the media that the ring not only dealt with stolen phones but also smuggled cosmetics, sarees, and salwar kameez from India for sale in Bangladesh. A total of 21 stolen high-end phones, five Indian passports, and cash were seized from the arrestees.

The arrested individuals include Raja Shao, Pankaj Biswas, Utpal Maity, Dipankar Ghosh, Raju Das, Sujan Das, SK Asgar Ali, Laraib Ashrav, Samarjit Das, and Bangladeshi national Murad Gazi.

Murad Gazi, along with his sister Boby, were identified as the masterminds behind the online sale of smuggled Indian goods like clothes, shoes, cosmetics, and even sex products, operating from their residence in Madhya Badda.

The investigation revealed that the entire operation ran on illegally smuggled goods, evading customs duties and taxes. The group reportedly used the inter-country train route between Kolkata and Dhaka Cantonment to facilitate their smuggling activities.

The arrested individuals confessed to previously smuggling and selling hundreds of stolen phones and numerous bottles of liquor and beer, all brought in illegally. They reportedly changed their tactics before religious holidays like Ramadan and Eid, focusing solely on smuggling cosmetics, clothes, and other smaller items to avoid detection.

A Detective Branch official from the Lalbagh division acknowledged the difficulty of selling stolen phones, particularly iPhones, within the local market due to IMEI tracking and the iPhone's "Find My" app.

"Selling them locally is risky with the chance of getting caught easily," the official explained. "That's why they targeted cross-border smuggling, where legal complexities make it harder for authorities to intervene."

Another official from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Cyber Security Division commented on the near impossibility of breaching iCloud accounts, despite rumours of such technology existing elsewhere.

He added that while some stolen phones with simple passwords might be smuggled out, other brands become unusable in Bangladesh after being flashed with new operating systems.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police's operation to dismantle this smuggling ring is ongoing, with the aim of bringing all those involved to justice.