Mumbai Crime: Cops catch phone thieves after 360 km chase

1. On November 21, PI Dnyaneshwar Baban Katkar (Panvel GRP) said, his team was working on a mobile theft case at Khandeswar railway station. Right then, they spotted a suspect, but, as they started walking towards him, he ran out

2. The cops ran after him, but outside he jumped into a waiting Tavera car and it took off. The GRP team got into their own vehicle and started chasing the Tavera for a distance of 7 to 8 km

3. As the robbers, from Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore, took the Pune Expressway from Panvel, the cops quickly informed the highway traffic police, Pune city/rural police, the Satara SP and Kolhapur SP. Five hours and 360km later, the robbers were detained at Kolhapur. The Panvel GRP team then rushed to Kolhapur and took custody of them

Dipu Patel, 23, Venkatesh Gokar, 23, Charan Potraj, 18 and Chandu Reddy, 23

4. The officers then checked the vehicle inside out but could not find the phones. It was only 48 hours later that one of the suspects revealed the names of two other gang members and the location of the hidden cavity in the car. Cops found 19 phones. DCP GRP Purshottam Karad said all were arrested under IPC sections

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