5 held for stealing over 300 cellphones worth ₹60L from Greater Noida showroom

The theft took place at ‘Noor Communication’ in Surajpur’s Saifi Market between 1:12am and 1:45am on November 5, said the 31-year-old shop owner, Irfan Khan, in his complaint.

Five men were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stealing 364 smartphones worth ₹60 lakh from a multi-brand showroom in Greater Noida’s Surajpur on the night of Diwali (November 5) this year, police said.

Police have seized smartphones, ₹6,000 cash and valuables from the suspects’ possession on Tuesday. (Sourced)

The theft took place at ‘Noor Communication’ in Surajpur’s Saifi Market between 1:12am and 1:45am on November 5, said the 31-year-old shop owner, Irfan Khan, in his complaint. According to Khan, he closed the showroom at 11pm and returned home -- around 100 meters away from the showroom.

“There is a gym in the building where my showroom is. Next morning, the gym instructor reached there at 5am and informed me that the showroom’s shutter was damaged. I reached there immediately and found that all the cellphones in my showroom had been stolen,” Khan said.

Thieves had also damaged the CCTV cameras there, and taken away the DVR.

Haris Chander, deputy commissioner of police, Noida Central, said that a case was registered against the suspects under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 380 (burglary) and 457 (house-trespass) at the local police station on November 5.

“A police team identified the suspects’ car after scanning multiple CCTV footage in the neighbourhood where the incident took place. They were also seen in camera footage at a toll plaza on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, as they were travelling to Haryana,” Chander said.

Police received a tip about the movement of the suspects near Tilapta roundabout in Greater Noida, Chander said on Tuesday. “A police team reached the spot and made the suspects stop their car. During a search, the police team recovered 177 stolen smart cellphones worth ₹30 lakh, ₹6,000 cash, a car, three fake registration number plates; two each iron rods, screw drivers and live cartridges; and one each LCD, DVR, fake insurance certificate, pollution under control (PUC) certificate, countrymade gun and master key to break locks from their possession,” he said.

The suspects -- identified as Rashid (goes by first name), 25, Irfan Mohammad, 26, Sohail, 24, Shabir alias Gidad, 24, Hakimuddin alias Hakku, 23 -- all residents of Nuh, Mewat in Haryana.

During investigation, the suspects revealed that they had targeted to steal valuables from the showroom randomly.

Initially, the shop owner had informed the police that nearly 600 smartphones worth ₹2 crore were stolen from the showroom, however, following an audit later, he said that 364 phones worth ₹60 lakh were stolen there. “These smartphones were from authorised distributors and we have all the documents with us. We also had some cellphones from local dealers, and we do not have the exact count of those... We welcome the police investigation and swift arrest. We got to know that the cellphones recovered during the search are in the low-price range. Some costly cellphones stolen from the showroom have not been recovered yet,” Khan said.

The suspects revealed during interrogation that they had stolen 308 cellphones in total. “They have sold some cellphones... Two more persons are also involved in the gang, and police are conducting searches to arrest them and recover the remaining smartphones at the earliest,” Chander said, adding that the suspects were produced before a court and sent to judicial custody on Tuesday.