Courier employee held as mastermind of staged phone robbery

A courier employee’s report of a high-value robbery at gunpoint has been exposed as an elaborate hoax, with police revealing on Thursday that the complainant himself was the architect of the crime.

The accused, identified as 25-year-old Ashish Kumar, had initially claimed that two unidentified men on a scooter intercepted him near the Vikas Marg flyover in east Delhi’s Shakarpur. He alleged they brandished a firearm and snatched a backpack containing 25 high-end mobile phones, including 14 of the latest iPhone 17s, 10 OnePlus devices, and a Vivo handset—a consignment valued at approximately Rs 20 lakh.

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However, the investigation quickly unraveled his story. Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Abhishek Dhania stated that after registering a serious case, inconsistencies began to surface.

“Our team busted their plot,” said DCP Dhania. Critical evidence, including CCTV footage from the alleged route and Ashish’s own call records, did not support his version of events.

Under questioning, Ashish confessed to staging the robbery with three accomplices. The scheme involved local mobile dealer Shamim (27), who arranged logistics and potential buyers, along with Aman (29) and Tanveer (32), who acted as the robbers to make the story credible.

Police have since arrested all four individuals. The entire consignment of 25 mobile phones has been successfully recovered from their possession before the devices could be sold. Two scooters used in the staged crime were also seized. Authorities are now investigating whether the group has connections to other similar fraudulent incidents in the past.