A woman speaking on a cellphone

Ranchi, Sept.16: Think twice before you flash your mobile phone in public. Cellphone-snatchers are on the prowl in the capital. Over the past three months, nine cases of mobile phone snatching have been reported in Ranchi. Add to this, the number of unreported cases and mobile-grabbing is the latest crime that the city goons have taken to.

The latest case was reported near Nagarmal Modi Seva Sadan last night. A mobile user, Kanhaiya, was stopped by a group of unidentified youths with guns. They did not want anything else apart from his cellphone and let him off after he parted with the handset.

The Ranchi police admitted that cases of mobile snatchings have been on the rise for the past few months. According to a police official, as many as nine mobile sets were stolen over the past three months from different parts of the capital. Last week, four cases of mobile thefts were reported from Lalpur police station area in a span of less than an hour. All the victims were buying vegetables when their mobile phones were “picked” from their pockets.

Sources attribute the trend to the craving for mobile phones among youth. “Cellphone is the in-thing now. Everybody wants to have it to impress others. They enjoy using the SMS and other facilities provided by the companies,” police officials said.

In most cases, the thefts are reported at police stations not to get back the mobile sets but to prevent the “misuse of sim cards”. The reason: Most cellphone users do not have proper documents of the sets they possess, which makes it easier for thieves to steal them without fearing legal action.

There are about 32,000 mobile phone users in Ranchi. Most of them use phones bought from the grey market. Despite paying a heavy amount for the set, they do not have papers for the cell phones, which cost between Rs 2,800 to Rs 28,000.

Local dealers of the sets said people never demand papers for the phones they buy. “Customers never demand papers for the mobile set as they have to pay 32 per cent extra for the them,” they said. Shop-owners added that they have sold many mobile sets even to VIPs and government officials without papers.

An official of a cellular phone service provider said majority of the users tend to leave their handsets at public places. “The number of snatching cases is very few. The users lose or misplace their handsets due to negligence. Users forget to pick them up.’’