Team of 5 thieves was paid Rs 40,000 per month

NEW DELHI: From the PM’s rallies to the Puri Rath Ratra; Justin Beiber’s concert in Mumbai to the auto expo in Greater Noida, this group of six men didn’t want to miss a single mega mass event in the country. Their passion for the crowds, however, had a dark motivation — the men stole wallets, smartphones and valuables at these events.The group, headed by a history-sheeter from northeast Delhi, travelled in style. They would fly to the destination and book a first class train compartment for the return journey to conveniently carry back the booty.The gang was busted after cops nabbed the kingpin, Aslam Khan, 38, and his Man Friday, Mukesh Kumar, 23, upon their return from the Jagannath Yatra in Puri.According to DCP (northeast) Atul Thakur, police had received a tip-off about the men coming to Maujpur in east Delhi to sell stolen phones. A trap was laid and the two nabbed. Cops recovered 46 high-end smartphones, apart from a pistol and cartridges, from the men.Aslam told the cops that he got the idea of targeting big events while watching a concert on television, where a large crowd of young people were flashing high-end mobile phones. Police claimed Aslam had so far stolen more than 5,000 phones.Aslam has a history of committing petty crimes in DTC buses and crowded markets of Delhi since 1995. He had also trained juveniles for events and political rallies in Delhi-NCR but gave up that plan when the laws got stricter.For targeting events across the country, Aslam had created a team of five notorious pickpockets on a payroll of Rs 40,000 per month. Cops said the gang would keep themselves updated about upcoming events through newspapers as well as event listings on mobile applications.They would buy tickets of expensive concerts and book flights and make hotel reservations.The men would dress up in expensive clothes to fit in with the crowd and carefully select their targets.“They would simply pull the wallet and mobile phones from their target’s pocket and move somewhere else. The gang would pick up at least 50-60 mobile phones and wallets at any big event,” an officer said.The gang had been to music concerts of international as well as Indian pop stars, Garba festivals in Gujarat , T-20 matches and major political rallies and inauguration events, especially by the prime minister as it used to draw huge crowds.They would then sell the mobile phones to people working in the mobile companies, who would disassemble the devices and sell off the parts. This was done to avoid coming on the cop’s radar.Aslam is married but had not told his wife and kids about his profession. He would tell them he was going on some business or religious trip whenever he left for his crime forays. His two children study in a private school.