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A mobile tower installation agency, forged documents showing consignments of ‘amplifiers’, and a shipping firm’s godown in Mahipalpur – these key elements facilitated the smuggling of stolen Remote Radio Units (RRUs), installed on mobile towers, to Hong Kong and China, which the Delhi Police recently busted, officers said Thursday. Three men were arrested in the process, and 30 RRUs were also seized, they added.
The case unravelled when the Eastern Range of the Crime Branch received a tip-off about two men involved in RRU transportation, holed up in Jaffrabad, as per a statement released by the police.
On August 23, a raid was conducted at C-109, Jaffrabad, and two accused, Chandrakant, 34, and Zahid, 24, were nabbed, the police said. “Zahid was tasked with receiving stolen RRUs delivered through porters and tempo trucks, concealing them in the basement godown, and assisting in loading and unloading. His associate, Chanderkant alias Atul, handled the testing and repacking of RRUs,” said Vikram Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), Delhi.
The two worked for a man named Sameer, the final link in the chain, transporting the consignment to couriers who took it to Honk Kong in packages that claimed to carry ‘amplifiers’, the police said.
On August 25, raids were conducted at the house of Sameer, 26, in the Hauz Rani area in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar. The Kolkata native has been living in Delhi for eight years.
“Initially involved in small-scale business, he later came into contact with criminal elements and began dealing in stolen mobile tower equipment (RRUs or base band units), purchasing them from suppliers in Delhi, Meerut, and Rajasthan, and exporting them through Shipping Line Pvt Ltd to Hong Kong, where he had personally travelled and set up a network. By his own admission, he has smuggled hundreds of stolen RRUs abroad, earning profits ranging from Rs 30,000–50,000 per unit,” DCP Singh said.
Sameer revealed that his main suppliers were workers of a mobile tower contractor based in Rajasthan, who knew how to detach an RRU safely — keeping it fit for reuse. The workers would bring the RRUs to Delhi on state transport buses.
“The contractor’s staff was directly involved in the theft of RRUs. They had good knowledge regarding its installation and removal. Over time, they came in contact with some receivers of the stolen RRUs and began to provide the units to the receivers for handsome amounts,” the DCP added.
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