Man held with 294 mobile phones sans bills, cops suspect Nepal smuggling link

Indore: Police recovered 294 stolen mobile phones after arresting a 32-year-old man in Indore on Monday for allegedly smuggling phones out of India and selling them in Nepal, prima facie as part of an international network, an official said.

The value of the seized mobile phones without valid bills is estimated to be Rs 35 lakh.

Police arrested Sandeep Kashyap following a tip-off, said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Rajesh Dandotia.

Kashyap was hired by one Jitendra Vaswani alias Johnny who promised to pay a huge commission.

Prima facie, Kashyap had smuggled 60 mobile phones without bills to Nepal and sold them on the instructions of Vaswani in the past, the ADCP told reporters.

Police suspect these mobile phones were stolen and looted from different states of India.

"294 phones valued at Rs 35 lakh have been recovered from Kashyap who couldn't produce bills for these devices to the police. We suspect Kashyap and Vaswani are connected to an international network that smuggles a large number of stolen and looted mobile phones from India to Nepal and sells them. A detailed investigation is underway," Dandotia said, adding that Vaswani is on the run.

Notably, Vaswani was arrested earlier for trading hundreds of stolen mobile phones before he was granted bail, he said.