Delhi: Nearly 200 stolen phones worth Rs 2 crore recovered, 1 held

Delhi: A man has been taken into custody in the Wazirabad area, with police recovering nearly 200 stolen mobile phones valued at approximately Rs 2 crore, officials said on Thursday.

Crime Branch teams intercepted a shipment of stolen mobile phones in Wazirabad, which was meant to be smuggled to Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The consignment was seized, and Manish Yadav was arrested, police stated.

The recovered devices include 39 Apple iPhones, 52 Samsung phones, 45 OnePlus devices, 12 Google Pixel phones, 28 Oppo smartphones, and 19 Vivo handsets. Among these, 18 phones have been traced to FIRs registered in various city police stations, while 53 match entries in lost reports, officials said.

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Authorities are working to identify the rightful owners of the remaining phones.

“The Cyber Cell encountered difficulties in extracting data and verifying owners due to locked and drained devices. However, investigations have led to the identification of 71 phones through FIRs and lost reports. Furthermore, 80 phones have been sent to the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit for unlocking and data retrieval, while 44 are undergoing IMEI-based verification,” a senior police officer explained.