Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) recovered 422 stolen mobile phones during raids at Karimullah Market and other locations in the city, arresting four individuals allegedly involved in mobile phone theft.

The operations were conducted throughout Thursday, Dec 18, by the SMP Detective Branch (DB), said Sylhet Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Quddus Chowdhury at a press conference on Friday afternoon. He identified the four arrested as key figures in the city’s mobile phone theft network.

During the raids, police recovered 38 phones from Tanvir’s residence in Mominkhala, South Surma. Tanvir and several others fled, but one suspect, Md. Sujjad, was later apprehended. Another major operation at Abdus Shahid’s house in Jainpur, South Surma, yielded 204 stolen phones, while 154 more phones were recovered from a smartphone gallery on the third floor of Karimullah Market.

The Commissioner said the recovered phones included various smartphone brands, many of which had their IMEI numbers altered for illegal resale. Preliminary interrogations revealed the suspects had been collecting stolen phones from different areas of Sylhet for resale, supplying them to other districts.

Along with the phones, police seized accessories, technical equipment, pen drives, and DSLR cameras. Abdus Shahid, the mastermind of the network, faces eight cases, including murder. The other three arrested are Md. Ayub Ali (Shahid’s father-in-law), Akram Ali (his nephew), and Md. Sujjad from Mominkhala.

Authorities are verifying IMEI numbers to identify the phones’ rightful owners. Legal actions have been taken against the suspects, and further operations are ongoing to apprehend others involved in the theft ring.