If you are going to watch the match, take care of your phone… 25 mobile phones of fans who came to watch IPL match stolen

Bengaluru. The new season of the Indian Premier League started on Saturday 28 March. Some IPL fans had a bitter experience during the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). At least 25 spectators' mobile phones went missing during the match. Police have clarified that it has not been confirmed that all the phones were stolen inside the stadium. Some people may lose their phones even outside the stadium and they may have come to know about this while going inside or outside.

At least seven suspects have been identified and are being interrogated. At present all these suspects are minors and they are only being interrogated. It has not yet been confirmed whether they were involved in theft or are part of any organized gang. One of the victims, digital creator Ritu Tiwari, shared her ordeal on Instagram and said that her husband's phone was stolen. Ritu said, “I have a request to all of you. If you are going to watch the IPL match, then take special care of your phone, because yesterday 50 to 60 phones were stolen from the P3 stand alone, which includes my husband's phone. My husband came to know about the disappearance of the phone after the first innings, when he had gone to get water for us.”

He further said, “After this we went to the stadium police for help, but they were not very interested. Then we went to the police station, where many people were already making similar complaints. We lodged an FIR. It was told that 10 to 12 children were caught and all of them were minors. They all came wearing jerseys and had free tickets. I think it is organized crime, because when I searched online, there were incidents in Chennai and Wankhede stadium also. Such incidents were reported mostly during the second shift, when people go out for refreshments. I demand strict action and better security, otherwise such cases will continue to happen in future.

C Vamsi Krishna, Joint Commissioner of Police, West Zone, said, “It is not correct to say that all the phones are lost inside the stadium. It depends on where the victims found the phone missing. The incident could have happened either inside or outside the stadium. I myself saw an elderly person whose phone was lost at the CTO junction and he had lodged an e-lost report. It will take time to understand the sequence of events. We are investigating the matter and will take action on all the e-lost reports.” “We are registering an FIR. If the theft is confirmed then no one will be spared.”

Another senior official said that the arrested minors are in a reform home. “We cannot yet say that they are accused. They are just suspects. No one was allowed entry into the cricket stadium without a valid ticket. The figures given by Ritu Tiwari cannot be accurate. The claim of minors being caught is also under investigation. All statements given by Tiwari and others are part of the investigation.”