Navi Mumbai Crime: 4 Arrested For Stealing Jio’s 5G Baseband Units Containing Gold; 13 Cases Solved, Stolen Property Worth ₹56 Lakh Recovered

Navi Mumbai: Navi Mumbai Police have arrested four members of a gang responsible for stealing 5G baseband units from Jio mobile towers across several districts. Among the four accused, one was a former employee of a firm that was outsourced by Jio for installation of the Baseband units. The operation led to the solving of 13 criminal cases and the recovery of stolen property valued at Rs 56 lakh.

"The basebands had a semiconductor in it which was made of gold. Every Baseband had gold weighing around 1 gram. The baseband is a vital instrument for communication as it connects the 5g network with satellite. The main accused of the gang was aware of the locations of the basebands and hence planned the theft," Assistant commissioner of police (crime branch) Ajaykumar Landge said.

The arrested individuals have been identified as Madhukar Ramesh Gaikwad (29), a driver from Sadegaon in Parbhani; Abhishek Deepak Kakade (24), a student from Itlapur Mohalla, Parbhani; Saurabh Satish Manjule (24), unemployed, from ONGC Colony in Panvel and Danish Irshad Malik (22), from Kasumba Road, Malegaon.

Gaikwad was the former employee of the firm that was outsourced by Jio. Kakade, a friend of Gaikwad, was a Diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering and Manjule had left Diploma in Electrical Engineering, half way through. Gaikwad and Kakade stole the instrument whole Manjule got an ertiga car to the spot and Malik who was into scrap dealing was the receiver of the instrument, police said.

Between June 26 and July 6, thefts of 5G baseband units from Jio towers were reported in the Khandeshwar, Taloja, and Panvel areas. Acting on the instructions of senior police officials including Police Commissioner Milind Bharambe, Joint Commissioner Sanjay Yenpure, Additional Commissioner (Crime) Deepak Sakore, and Deputy Commissioner (Crime) Amit Kale, a dedicated investigation was launched.

ACP Landge led the teams from the Central Crime Branch to inspect the crime scenes and analyze available CCTV footage. Based on technical intelligence and surveillance, the suspects were traced to Malegaon, Satana, and Parbhani.

Senior Police Inspector Sunil Shinde of the Central Crime Unit formed multiple teams to track down the accused. On the Mumbai-Agra highway near Padgha, three suspects were apprehended in a planned police trap, while the fourth was later arrested in Satana, Nashik. All four were arrested on July 8 and remanded to police custody till July 11.

Investigation revealed their involvement in 13 criminal cases filed at various police stations. In the Navi Mumbai Commissionerate, the cases were registered at Khandeshwar Police Station, Panvel City Police Station and Taloja Police Station. In the Mira-Bhayandar Commissionerate, cases were registered at Mandvi Police Station, Manickpur Police Station and Naigaon Police Station.

In Thane Rural, the accused were linked to thefts at Padgha Police Station and Kulgaon Police Station. In Raigad District, the cases were registered at Alibaug Police Station and Wadkhal Police Station. In Thane City, a case was registered at Badlapur Police Station. In the Mumbai Commissionerate, the suspects were connected to a case at Mankhurd Police Station.

Police recovered a total of 12 stolen Jio 5G baseband units, valued at Rs 32.4 lakh. They also seized three mobile phones worth Rs 35,000, along with three vehicles used in the crimes, valued at Rs 23.25 lakh. Altogether, property worth Rs 56 lakh was recovered during the investigation.

Among the accused, Gaikwad has a previous criminal record. He has been booked at Nanalpeth Police Station in Parbhani, Sahakar Nagar Police Station in Pune and at New Mondha Police Station in Parbhani for similar thefts.

"During the investigation, it was established that Gaikwad and the other accused had conspired together and formed an organized gang specifically to target and steal Jio’s 5G baseband units. Based on this, an additional charge under Section 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was invoked for organised crime," Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime branch) Amit Kale, said.