1500 iPhones Stolen From Moving Truck; Kolkata High Court Orders Probe

In an unusual incident, a moving truck in West Bengal’s Medinipur district lost 1500 iPhones worth Rs 9.7 crore. The odd event happened in September 2023 at Debra as the iPhone went missing after the truck reached Debra in West Medinipur, which was travelling from Chennai to Kolkata, according to the petitioner. Three months after the incident, the transport company took the case to the Kolkata High Court, accusing the Bengal police of not adequately investigating the theft case. As per the petitioner, there has been no arrest in the case so far. The petitioner is also seeking a CID (Criminal Investigation Department) investigation instead of the district police.

However, the West Bengal police have countered the petitioners’ claims that there is no adequate action from the police side and said that some of the stolen iPhones were traced in New Delhi and functioning. The police have also assured an ongoing investigation, India Today reported.

After hearing the case and arguments by both sides, the Kolkata High Court directed the state to conduct a thorough investigation under the supervision of the West Medinipur district superintendent of police. The court also sought progress report of the case from the police.

According to the (Global Positioning System) GPS that the transport company uses to monitor their trucks, the truck was not moving for over 30 minutes at a petrol pump in the new market area of Debra around 6 am on September, 28. The company could not reach the truck driver and hence informed the Debra police station, but when the police reached the spot, they found nothing inside as the goods were stolen by then.

Apalak Basu, the petitioners’ lawyer, suspects that the iPhones could have been stolen when the truck was moving and argued that another truck which was passing alongside their truck might have hand in the stealing.

The petitioner also pointed out that the police could not still track the missing truck driver since the recovery of the truck. It also accused the police of their delay in filing the FIR as the FIR was registered only on October 10, 2023. However, though the police denied the inaction, the Kolkata High Court ordered the district police to conduct a detailed probe into the theft case.