A truck carrying cellphones worth Rs 1 crore was robbed and the driver was thrashed by unidentified miscreants near Dagadarthi village in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore district last week.
The truck, which was carrying Xiaomi mobiles valued between Rs 6000 to Rs 14000, was stopped near Gowravaram village. The miscreants attacked the driver and tied him up to a tree and proceeded to empty the contents of the trunk into another truck.
Locals, who rescued the truck driver, reportedly found the empty truck near a roadside dhaba on the Chennai-Kolkata national highway. Locals later informed the police about the incident.
The cell phones were manufactured in Sri City near Tada where Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics which makes and invests in smartphones, mobile apps, laptops and consumer electronics, has its unit. According to reports, the container with registration number DL1 M 6297 was carrying a load of mobile phones picked up from the Sri City manufacturing unit and was being transported to Kolkata.
The police stated that the robbery seems to be a pre-planned one and have said that there could be an insider who works in the Xiaomi unit who could have aided the robbers. The incident has raised concerns over industrial security in the area.
Police have registered a case but it is yet to be ascertained how many people were involved in the robbery. Nellore rural police have suspected that some locals could be involved in the incident.
Speaking to TNM, Nellore Rural DSP Raghava Reddy said, "A case has been registered in this regard where the truck laden with mobiles worth Rs 1 crore has been robbed near Dagadarthi."
Though the police formed special teams to investigate the case and track down the stolen phones, no progress has been made in the case even after a week.
“The investigation is underway, so far no arrests have been made,” Raghava Reddy added.