Crime News / Mobile Theft Racket Busted Outside Bhubaneswar Exam Centres

Bhubaneswar, Sept 15: Commissionerate Police has busted a mobile theft racket that had been targeting students outside examination centres in the capital for nearly one and a half years.

The accused, identified as Dushmanta Subudhi, was arrested for stealing mobile phones kept in scooters by examinees before entering exam halls.

Police investigations revealed that Dushmanta would specifically target crowded exam centres, where students often left their phones inside scooters. Exploiting this habit, he would swiftly steal the devices and escape.

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Over the past 18 months, he allegedly carried out multiple thefts across different centres in Bhubaneswar.

Instead of selling the stolen phones directly, Dushmanta handed them over to Rakesh Kumar Sahoo in Bapuji Nagar. Rakesh dismantled the devices and sold their parts to avoid detection. Police said expensive smartphones were being sold for as little as ₹5,000–₹6,000.

The racket’s proceeds were used by Dushmanta to fund a lavish lifestyle, including staying in hotels and spending hours playing online games. Investigators also found that he used stolen phones for transactions through phone‑based payment apps, further complicating the trail.

Police have arrested both Dushmanta and Rakesh, and are probing the wider network to identify others involved. Authorities suspect more individuals may be linked to the racket and indicated that Dushmanta could be taken on remand for further interrogation.

Commissionerate Police stated that the case highlights how exam centres had become hotspots for theft due to practice of leaving phones in vehicles. The arrests are expected to curb such incidents and dismantle the chain of illegal mobile part sales in the city.