Thane crime news: Man orders Rs 46,000 iPhone online, receives soap bars instead

Representative Pic/iStock

Thane crime news: A 25-year-old man from Maharashtra's Thane found himself at the center of a scam when he ordered a smartphone worth Rs 46,000 online, only to receive a package containing three soap bars instead, according to police reports on Monday.

The victim, employed at a photocopy shop, placed an order for an iPhone through an online shopping platform. However, upon receiving the parcel on November 9, his excitement quickly turned to dismay as he discovered that the package contained three soap bars typically used for dishwashing, cleverly concealed within a carton designed for a mobile phone.

An official from the Bhayander police station revealed that the man was evidently cheated by someone who tampered with the parcel during its delivery route.

In response to this deception, the victim promptly filed a police complaint, detailing the unexpected substitution of the high-value smartphone with common household items.

The police registered an offense against the unidentified culprit under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday. As investigations unfold, authorities are working to uncover the perpetrator behind this fraudulent act.

In a separate incident, a duo who ransacked Muslim households and evaded the police by donning a burqa were apprehended by the MIDC police on Saturday. Accused in a number of other cases, the duo has been identified as Raees Abdul Ahad Shaikh, 36, and Waseem Khalid Khan alias Billa, 33. Incidentally, Shaikh planned the latest theft to repay an acquaintance who paid his bail when he was in jail for a previous crime.

According to police sources, the accused targeted the houses of Muslims after conducting meticulous surveillance. One of them donned a burqa during the operation, because of which they escaped the police's lens in the past. However, their luck ran out when they targeted a house equipped with a hidden CCTV camera in Mukund Nagar Society, Marol, Andheri East, on November 3.

Also read: Mumbai Crime: Worli man arrested for raping, extorting doctor

"CCTV footage from the camera concealed inside the house revealed the burqa-clad person to be a man. The duo was soon identified and arrested on Saturday, and the stolen goods were recovered," said a source.

"The incident took place when the family's domestic help had gone to the school to pick up her employer's daughter. Upon returning, she found the bedroom ransacked. Valuables and cash worth approximately Rs 4.5 lakh were missing," said an officer from MIDC police. A case was registered by Zaheer Ansari, 45. (With inputs from PTI)