Delhi: 4 men steal 38 mobile phones worth over Rs 12 lakh

Delhi: Four men allegedly stole 38 mobile phones worth over Rs 12 lakh from a sealed courier vehicle in transit from Noida to Delhi’s Mahipalpur, an official said on Friday.

One of the accused, Jitender Kumar (27), has been arrested while three others, including Kuldeep — the driver of the van, Keshav and Mehsana, are absconding.

Jitender is a repeat offender who was previously involved in two theft cases — one in Gurugram involving eight stolen laptops and another in Noida where 180 phones were taken.

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“The incident came to light on April 22 after a complainant reported that 38 mobile phones were missing from a consignment of 1,019 handsets transported from Noida to Mahipalpur,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (southwest) Surendra Choudhary said.

Interestingly, there were no visible signs of breakage or tampering with the sealed boxes.

A case was registered at the Vasant Kunj North police station.

Based on technical surveillance and secret information, Jitender was traced to Faridabad and arrested. During the interrogation, he revealed that the theft was an inside job.

The driver of the courier van, Kuldeep, was allegedly part of the conspiracy and had tipped Jitender off.

“Jitender, along with his associates Keshav and Mehsana, entered the courier van en route. While the vehicle was moving, they discreetly broke the seal, opened selected cartons, and removed 38 phones. After resealing the boxes, they exited the vehicle undetected,” the DCP said.

Jitender further disclosed that the stolen devices were dispersed to different locations, including Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), and Banswara (Rajasthan), for resale.

During Jitender’s eight-day police custody, multiple raids were carried out across Faridabad, Delhi, Aligarh, Banswara, and Raipur, resulting in the recovery of 31 stolen phones worth approximately Rs 12 lakh.

“Jitender has been sent to judicial custody. Efforts are on to trace the remaining seven phones and apprehend his absconding accomplices,” police said.

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Additionally, police recovered a car used in the commission of the crime and a toolkit employed to reseal the courier boxes.