Police arrested a four-member gang of pickpockets operating in the busy KR Market area. Twenty-seven stolen mobile phones have been recovered from them, police said.
The gang members are Raghavendra, 27, Kiran, 28, Shoukat Ali, 28, all three are from Bhadravathi; and Balaram, 38, of Sarabandepalya, Banashankari.
The Bhadravathi men are Balaram's friends. For the purpose of stealing mobile phones, he put them up in Bengaluru and took them to crowded places such as RMC Yard, Peenya, Nelamangala and the Banashankari market.
The gang sold the stolen phones with the help of an accomplice in Bhadravathi. Police are searching for him. The gang had been operating for the last two years and was arrested outside Bengaluru.
In Bengaluru, a police team led by City Market inspector Shiva Kumar zeroed in on them while investigating a mobile phone theft reported on December 4.
Zabihullah Khan, 53, of JB Nagar, visited KR Market on December 3 to buy vegetables for his eatery. At MD Circle, his phone worth Rs 46,000 was stolen.