Medical rep turns Sherlock, finds stolen iPhone in 7 days

The alleged thief, who had come to the city to work with his kin only 10 days ago, was handed over to the police.

On June 13, S Simiyon from Perambur had gone to the Airtel showroom in Purasawalkam along with a friend to report about sim card problems that he was facing. He had with him an iPhone 6 that he had bought for Rs 30,000 in February. 

After finishing the discussion with the customer care staff, he realised that the phone that was kept on the desk had gone missing. He immediately lodged a complaint at the Kilpauk  police station.

However, the police allegedly issued only a Community Service Register (CSR) copy, that too after three days, and there was no further action.

Apprehensive that the police might not be able to retrieve the phone if it is refurbished and sold, Simiyon launched a hunt by himself, starting from where he lost the phone. When he checked the footage of the day recorded by the CCTV at the showroom, he found two men moving out in a suspicious manner.

Simiyon found out that they had come to port their number, and obtained their names and number. But the number remained switched off. “We checked WhatsApp and the number had been active till May 25. Search for the name on Facebook threw up 100 results. Finally, I checked for the number on FB Messenger and came across the profile of a person named Pankaj Kumar.

It was the same face that was sitting next and smiled at me at the showroom,” he said.

Simiyon sent a message to Pankaj, but there was no reply. Then, he messaged Pankaj’s friends on Facebook claiming that the latter had asked him about a job. He thus managed to get Pankaj’s working phone number. With the help of a friend from north India, Simiyon lured Pankaj with an offer of a better job opportunity for Hindi-speaking people, which would pay double the salary. Simiyon got Pankaj’s address, which led to a furniture manufacturing unit in Madhavaram.

He then camped there with his friends since Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, he saw Pankaj stepping out to board a truck to deliver furniture. When Simiyon confronted him, Pankaj initially refused.

But when shown the CCTV footage and the police complaint, he admitted to having stolen the phone and returned it. Simiyon alerted police, who came to the spot and arrested him. He was remanded in judicial custody. Though Simiyon’s father Suresh wanted to withdraw the complaint, police insisted on proceeding with the case. “For me my phone is precious. So, while police were doing their duty, I decided to try to search the phone from my end,” said Simiyon.

Pankaj Kumar (19) has completed Class 12 and came to Chennai only 10 days ago to help an uncle in the furniture manufacturing business.