New Delhi: The iPhone of a Supreme Court law officer, Deepika Deshwal, was stolen from her car in her presence near northwest Delhi’s Britannia Chowk last Wednesday.The phone contained critical documents from her tenure as a govt officer in Punjab, including forensic folders related to human trafficking networks and files linked to active multi-state scam FIRs, she told TOI.Deshwal was travelling from Punjabi Bagh to Rani Bagh in her car when a man approached her from the left at 9pm and told her that she had accidentally run over a person’s foot. “I was speaking to him when another man started aggressively knocking on the right-hand window,” she said.While she was distracted, the man on the left used a magnet to lift her phone, she claimed. “Based on their build and appearance, I suspect them to be part of the ‘thak-thak gang’. One of them appeared to be heavily intoxicated,” she said.Deshwal realised that her phone was missing after reaching home. She alleged that repeated attempts to contact the 112 helpline failed, following which she used her mother’s phone to get in touch with police.She alleged that CCTV cameras near the Britannia Chowk police booth were unable to capture clear images of the suspects. “There was a police booth near the spot but no officer was inside at the time of the incident,” she said, adding that another car was nearby and its driver may have witnessed the theft, but did not raise an alarm.“Since the phone developed some software problems, I was in the process of contacting some experts and transferring the data to my other phone at the time,” she said.“The incident has left me scared. If this can happen to me, it can happen to any woman,” she said, adding that she has been contacted by senior officials from Punjab and assured that the data is in the process of being retrieved.A case was registered at Subhash Place police station under Sections 303 (theft) and 3(5) (common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Cops are examining CCTV footage to identify and apprehend the suspects.In 2023, Deshwal entered Guinness World Records after becoming the youngest Indian to deliver a speech at United Nations for the third time. She is also a gold medalist in wrestling and her father is a retired officer of Delhi Police.
