The police said driver of the vehicle (above) was thrashed, tied up and thrown out of the vehicle.
Smartphones worth around Rs 2 crore looted from a vehicle which was carrying the consignment to Mumbai, by accused in Chittoor near Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, police said on Wednesday.
Nagari urban police official said that driver of the vehicle was thrashed, tied up and thrown out of the vehicle.
"One Irfan, driver of a container lorry came to Nagari urban police station on Wednesday morning at around 8.30 AM. He said that he was coming from Sriperambudur of Tamil Nadu and was on way to Mumbai. He was taking the lorry from Xiaomi mobile manufacturing unit at Sriperumbudur. He said that the vehicle was at Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh borders at midnight on Tuesday when another lorry intercepted him," the official said.
"Irfan said that the persons from another lorry thrashed him, tied him and took his lorry to a secluded place. They left him, looted the property in the container and ran away, leaving Irfan alone. He further said that somehow he walked to Nagari town, and local people directed him to Nagari Urban Police Station," the official added.
Nagari urban police took Irfan and started searching for the container lorry. They could trace out the lorry at around 11 AM at an area between Narayanavanam and Puttur.
"The police contacted Sriperambudur unit of the mobile manufacturing company and gave information to them over the phone. The representatives of the company rushed to Nagari by around 3.30 PM today. Then the police took them to the container for checking the property. Company representatives checked the container and informed that 8 bundles out of a total of 16 bundles of mobile phones are stolen from the container. The worth of the stolen property is approximately Rs 2 crores," the official said.
Based on the complaint made by the company representative, police have registered FIR.
"Driver Irfan is taken into custody. An investigation into the case is launched. Special teams are formed to catch the culprits," the official said.