The accused have been identified as Akil Abdul Samad Khan alias Messi (32) and Taariq Kalim Khan alias Baba (30).

Mumbai: The Local Crime Branch ( LCB) unit of the Thane (rural) police has arrested two tech-savvy members of a gang who allegedly changed International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers — which are unique to each mobile phone — of stolen high-end phones and then sold  them off in the grey market. Stolen booty worth more than Rs 4 lakh including 99 smartphones of various brands and a motorcycle have been recovered from the duo. The accused have been identified as Akil Abdul Samad Khan alias Messi (32) and Taariq Kalim Khan alias Baba (30).

The police said changing the stolen phones’ IMEI numbers made it impossible for them to trace the phones.

The accused, who are residents of Bhiwandi and are school dropouts, allegedly mastered the art of erasing IMEI numbers with the help of commercial software. Alarmed by the sudden spurt in cases of mobile theft in the region, Thane (rural) superintendent of police Dr Mahesh Patil deputed the LCB team to probe the issue and nab the culprits.

A specific tip-off from an informant led to the arrest of the duo from Kashimira. The duo confessed to their crime after sustained interrogations, the police said.

Assistant police inspector Pramod Badakh said, “We typically use the IMEI numbers of cell phones to trace missing or stolen devices, but this gang used software to erase the IMEI number and fix a new number to sell the stolen phones again... The duo seems to be members of an organised gang.”