Smartphones worth Rs 1.22 crore stolen

Ahmedabad, August 23 – It might be one of the biggest mobile phone thefts in the recent history of the city – thieves decamped with 714 mobile phones, most of them high-end smartphones worth Rs 1.22 crore from an office-cum-storehouse near Paldi on Wednesday night. Police believe that a person known to the place might be involved in the incident.

 

According to Ellisbridge police, Prakash Gandhi, a resident of Janvi Apartment, Naranpura, reported the theft from 18, Pankaj Society near Paldi Bhattha at 9.30 am on Thursday. Gandhi stated that a Delhi-based distributor of a smartphone major had rented the premises.

 

"When Gandhi came to the office on Thursday morning, he saw that the door of the godown, diagonal to the room used as office, was broken. He immediately informed other staff members and investigated when he realized that most of the boxes containing smartphones were missing. The thieves might have broken the door near interlock as we have found the lock half open," said G S Raol, inspector of Ellisbridge police station.

 

Investigators said while it is possible to open the door from the room, they would try to recreate the scene to ascertain whether the thieves entered from back of the house or the front porch. "The way they have targeted high-end phones in the specific room, we believe that the thief was conversant with the layout and might have come with a small loading vehicle to take away so many boxes," said an investigator.

 

Police puzzled

Police are puzzled about the theft. "Unlike gold and cash, the mobile phones can be traced whenever it gets activated and is registered with central registry after switching it on. It is not possible that the thieves might not have known the fact. There are only two possibilities – either it will be kept underground for a very long time or it will be smuggled out of the state and will be sold off at cheaper price," said an official.

 

TOI