In a high-value courier scam, four men — including a courier driver — have been arrested for stealing 385 mobile phones worth nearly Rs30 lakh from Karol Bagh, central Delhi.
The accused — Abhishek Singh, his brother Vikas Singh, and two accomplices Kishan Chauhan and Chetan Jha — swapped valuable mobile phone consignments with fake parcels stuffed with cardboard and waste paper.
According to DCP (Central) Nidhin Valsan, the phones were ordered by a Siwan-based mobile shop owner from wholesalers in Karol Bagh on August 31. The consignments were supposed to be delivered via Vaishali Express, having been booked through a courier service.
Abhishek Singh, employed as a courier driver, picked up the parcels for delivery. Meanwhile, Vikas Singh, who worked as an e-rickshaw driver, used a duplicate key to access the courier vehicle near Jhandewalan. The group then swapped the four genuine parcels with the fake ones and secretly transported the stolen goods to a hideout in Karol Bagh.
There, the original contents were repacked into six boxes containing the 385 mobile phones. Out of these, nine phones were taken away by Kishan Chauhan, while the rest remained with the group.
The case was cracked after a tip-off led to a raid in Beadonpura, resulting in the arrest of Abhishek and Vikas Singh. An e-rickshaw carrying six boxes with 376 stolen mobile phones was recovered. Follow-up operations led to the arrest of Kishan and Chetan, and police are working to trace the remaining devices.
The complainant, a seasoned mobile phone trader from Bihar, discovered the theft when he opened the delivery in Siwan and found nothing but scrap material inside.
The arrests have exposed a well-coordinated theft involving courier insiders and highlight the growing threat of parcel fraud in metro cities.
