Chennai: Former worker held for theft at Sowcarpet mobile shop

CHENNAI: The Elephant Gate police in Chennai have arrested a 28-year-old man, a former staff member of a mobile showroom, in connection with the theft of Rs 29.5 lakh cash and 25 smartphones, including 17 iPhones, from his former employer's store in Sowcarpet.

The arrested person was identified as Mukesh Bajranglal of Rajasthan. He has been working in the shop for the last six months.

The police said that the accused, who claimed he was leaving for Rajasthan and would not return to work, had used a spare key. He had made the key when he worked there to gain entry into the store and steal the cash and phones.

The store is located in a commercial complex on Irulappan Street. On Tuesday (July 15), when the store owner, Ankit Kumar, opened the shop for business, he realised that the place had been burgled overnight, after which he filed a police complaint.

The investigation by the police personnel revealed that there was no forced entry into the shop. They inquired with the owner and the staff members and learnt that the accused had stopped coming to work a week before the theft.

Mukesh was hiding in Andhra Pradesh with the stolen money and was planning to leave for Rajasthan when the search died down. The city police tracked the accused's location with the help of the cyber crime police and arrested him.

Police recovered Rs 25.5 lakh in cash and all the stolen phones from the accused. He was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.