Chennai: 3 steal Rs 35 lakh phones from Ritchie Street

CHENNAI: Burglars struck at Ritchie Street, the city's electronics hub, in the wee hours of Friday and made off with smartphones including 250 iPhones and accessories worth 35 lakh from five shops.
Police, who accessed CCTV camera footage that showed three men on a bike arriving at the spot at 3.15am and making off with a bundle more than an hour later, said they suspected the hand of insiders in the theft as traders in the area receive consignments of phones from Bengaluru and other cities in the first and third week of every month. Late on Friday night, police arrested Murugan, 19, and a juvenile in connection with the theft. They recovered a 65 mobile phones, 20 smart watches and a bike from them. A search is pom for the third suspect involved.
The burglars targeted only mobile phones and accessories from Basheer Mobiles in Nambi Traders Complex, New Bismi Mobiles on Wallers Road, another shop named Bismi Mobiles, Sayeeda Electronics on Mohammad Hussain Street and Disco Electronics on Wallace Road, said an investigation officer. Police said a complaint from Basheer Ahmed, 32, of Basheer Mobiles and H Syed, 30, of New Bismi Mobiles said only 5 lakh worth of phones and accessories were stolen though the actual amount was much more as there were no bills for many of the stolen goods.
A case was registered and special police teams formed to crack the case with the help of the bike registration number caught in a CCTV camera.
Most of the commercial complexes lacked security guards and the burglars easily sneaked into the shops, said the officer.
One of the burglars, caught in a CCTV camera at Basheer Mobiles, was seen taking away all the cash from the counter after having spent at least one hour there, the investigation officer said.