Pune: The Pune police have booked an employee of an e-commerce company for stealing brand new smartphones worth Rs51.11 lakh from the parcels sent at the Lohegaon airport.
The suspect had stolen as many as 232 smartphones between April and October last year.
The company's security manager Pranav Borale lodged a complaint with the airport police on Saturday after the theft came to light.
"The Pune crime branch has detained one employee of the company under suspicion," said an airport police officer.
A senior crime branch officer said, " We suspect that more than one employee was involved in the thefts. We are interrogating one of the employees of the e-commerce firm."
Probe revealed that the suspects used to steal smartphones from the parcels that were sent to the airport for urgent deliveries.
"On reaching the airport, the suspect would collect these parcels and take them to the designated spot provided to the company within the airport premises," the officer said.
The suspects would then open the sealed parcels and steal one or two smartphones each time. "The suspects would then seal the parcels again," the police officer said.
The thefts didn't come to anybody's notice because the parcels contained smartphones in bulk.
"Our probe is on. The suspects will be arrested soon," the officer said.
