Chennai: A thief, who stole a mobile phone from an assistant director, couriered him the handset through a delivery app, but only after he had transferred 5,000 from the victim’s bank account and formatted the phone. In the meantime, the thief had also contacted the victim’s wife, and sought money.Selvendran of Virugambakkam, an assistant director in Tamil films, had gone to a juice shop in Arumbakkam to meet a friend. He had left his mobile phone on the two-wheeler and found it missing when he returned. CCTV footage showed a young man sitting on Selvendran’s two-wheeler before riding away in a different bike.Selvendran lodged a complaint and repeatedly tried calling his phone. After ringing several times, he found the phone was switched off.Hours later, when his wife Sangeetha tried to reach him, someone answered the call, claiming that a young boy had accidentally picked up the phone. The caller said they would return the phone, if she provided her location.When she did as told, the caller began bargaining, demanding 1,500 to return the device. A while later, the mobile phone was returned through a delivery app.However, when Selvendran examined the phone, he found that it had been completely formatted: there was new software installed, and 5,000 had been stolen from his bank account via PhonePe. Moreover, the thief had reached out to the victim’s contacts list and asked them to transfer money. Selvendran later lodged a complaint at Vadapalani police station. Investigation is underway.
