Bhubaneswar: ‘Kleptomaniac’ girl lands in trouble for ‘stealing’ iPhone worth Rs 1.4 lakh

BHUBANESWAR: A BTech student, who is reportedly a victim of kleptomania, was detained at Saheed Nagar police station here for over 4 hours after she allegedly fled with an iPhone worth Rs 1.4 lakh from a mobile store on Tuesday. The police released her only after her family paid the money to the store’s owner.
High drama unfolded before she landed in trouble. Clad in shorts, the 23-year-old street smart girl reached the phone store around 11.40am in posh Saheed Nagar area. She stayed in an apartment nearby the shop.
She asked the shop’s salesman to show her iPhone 12-Pro-Max (256 GB) model which comes around Rs 1.39 lakh. “We did not have the stock of that expensive model. Since she insisted on purchasing the model immediately, we arranged one within half an hour. She waited in our store,” said P K Jena, the salesman.
When she was handed the bill, she took the plea that her debit card had some issues. “She asked me to accompany her to her home and collect the cash from her father. She also asked me to bring the card swipe machine so that her father’s debit or credit card can be used. I agreed,” Jena said.
When the salesman was about to take his bike, she insisted him to accompany her in her car. She suddenly stopped her car near a petrol pump and took out an empty bottle and requested the salesman to purchase petrol.
“I kept the swipe machine inside the car and walked towards the petrol pump when she drove away with the phone and swipe machine. I ran before her car and luckily traced her apartment,” he said.
The salesman was taken aback when she refused to identify him and denied having taken any phone from his store nor his swipe machine. Based on his complaint with the police, she was called to the Saheed Nagar police station where she pleaded innocence. She was not ready to confess her crime despite seeing the store’s CCTV camera footage.
“We did not register any case as her family paid the money for the iPhone and swipe machine. Her family said this is the first time she committed such an offence. But her sister claimed she was suffering from depression,” a police officer said.