Two mobile thieves were arrested after a shootout with the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah on Thursday night, while two others, including the gang leader, were nabbed from different places. The gang used to steal mobiles by visiting fairs and temples in various states and sold them in Ahmedabad. The accused also confessed to stealing 300 mobiles in a month.

Police recovered 19 mobiles and bikes from the arrested thieves, who were identified as Neeraj alias Bhura, Monu Abbasi, Momin and Sehwan. Momin was the leader of the gang, who used to hire vehicles and take his accomplices to different places to commit thefts. He used to sell the mobiles to Pramod Nagla, who is still absconding.

The gang members used to disguise themselves as devotees by wearing kalava in their hands and tika on their forehead in temples and fairs. They targeted people who left their phones unattended or kept them in their pockets. The thieves then subsequently flee from the spot after snatching the phones.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Kumar Ranvijay Singh said that the police were checking vehicles at the Etah intersection when they tried to stop three bike-borne youths. One of them opened fire on the police and they tried to escape. However, their bike slipped and they fell on the ground following which two of them were caught while the third person managed to run away. Police have initiated an investigation and a search is on to apprehend the other members of the gang.