1.5k iPhones stolen, HC prod for probe
KOLKATA/MIDNAPORE: The Calcutta High Court has ordered an in-depth probe – under the supervision of the West Midnapore SP – into the theft of 1,500 iPhones worth Rs 9.7 crore from a truck at Debra on September 28 last year. Police said some of these stolen phones are being used in Delhi.The petitioner, a transport company, stated that it was transporting the iPhones from Chennai to Kolkata in a truck.According to the petition, there was a GPS mechanism fixed on the truck. While monitoring it, the company found that the truck had stopped at a petrol pump for over an hour.
Immediately, they informed the police.
“The truck was subsequently traced. But iPhones worth Rs 9.7 crore had been stolen. The truck driver was also missing… .
The incident took place on September 28. Despite making several complaints before the police authorities and intimation given to the SP, no FIR was registered till October 10,” the petitioner stated.Transport company lawyer Apalak Basu contended that the day after the lorry left, it crossed three states and entered Bengal through NH-6. The office learned that the truck was standing at a petrol pump in the New Market area of Debra around 6 am on September 28 last year.
The driver did not pick up the phone even though he was called repeatedly. The police went to the spot and recovered the truck but found it empty.The company stated that it assumes that the iPhones were stolen from the truck while it was in motion and another truck had been used to steal the items. The act was completed before Debra toll-plaza to ensure that no evidence was there in CCTV cameras.Ordering the investigating agency to file another report regarding the progress in the investigation, Justice Jay Sengupta said it appears that till date neither any accused has been arrested nor were the stolen articles recovered. “It is quite strange that the driver also could not be traced,” Sengupta stated.The state said the truck was seized. “Notices have been served under Sec 91 of the Code for providing for IMEI of the phones.
The prayer was made before the SP for travelling to Delhi for recovery I-phones because some of the activated I-phones could be traced to Delhi,” the state lawyer submitted before court.