Police have registered a case against eight persons for allegedly stealing high-end smartphones worth Rs 31 lakh and embezzling Rs 23.8 lakh from a logistics and supply company in Maharashtra’s Thane district, officials said on Sunday.
According to police, the accused illegally entered the company’s premises in the Ambernath area on November 18, 2025, and allegedly stole smartphones valued at Rs 31.18 lakh, reported PTI.
They also allegedly misappropriated Rs 23.87 lakh from the delivery hub between March and November last year.
To conceal the crime, the accused allegedly destroyed the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) system at the premises, an official from the Ambernath police station said, reported PTI.
Based on a complaint, police on Friday registered a case against the eight accused under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for theft, cheating, criminal breach of trust and causing disappearance of evidence.
Mumbai Police recover 5,000 stolen phones in 15-day crackdown
Earlier in December 2025, the Mumbai Police recovered over 5,000 mobile phones belonging to Mumbaikars that had been stolen or reported missing but were later reactivated with new SIM cards. Most of these devices were traced to Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and other northern states, pointing to a well-organised interstate syndicate dealing in stolen phones.
About 20 days ago, using the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR)—a centralised database of mobile equipment identifiers operated by the Department of Telecommunications—the police learnt that more than 25,000 stolen or missing mobile phones from Mumbai had recently been reactivated with new SIM cards.
As part of Police Commissioner Deven Bharti’s mission to crack this network, nearly 100 to 150 police personnel were deployed outside Mumbai to track and retrieve the phones. The recovery has exposed how the syndicate funnelled high-end stolen phones out of Mumbai and resold them in rural markets for as little as Rs 1,000 to Rs 3,000.
How it started
Over a period of time, the police received several complaints of mobile phones going missing or being stolen across the city. In response, they registered these cases on the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) portal, where the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers of missing devices are listed.
The IMEI is a unique 15-digit code used to identify individual mobile phones on cellular networks. Once a stolen or missing device is reactivated with a new SIM card, the Mumbai Police receive an automated alert. The system also provides details such as the name of the SIM card holder and their registered address.
(With PTI inputs)
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