Apple Heist: Burglars flee with 92 iPhones worth ₹75 lakh from mobile store in Kozhikode

A recently opened high-end mobile store in Nadapuram was broken into, with thieves decamping with 92 iPhones valued at approximately ₹75 lakh. The rare phone heist took place at the ECity Apple Pro Store on Main Road, which was inaugurated on April 22 by its owner, Riyas, a resident of Villiappally.

In addition to the Apple smartphones, the burglars also fled with ₹60,600 in cash. The incident came to light on Saturday morning when one of the shop’s 12 employees arrived at 9.30 am to open the showroom, only to find the heavy steel shutters pried open and the inner glass doors shattered.

Fresh stock wiped out
According to store representatives, the shop had received a fresh consignment of new-generation iPhones worth ₹15 lakh just the previous day. The burglars systematically wiped out the entire stock, ensuring no high-value device was left behind. In a bid to stall the police investigation, the culprits also ripped out and took away the hard disk of the store’s CCTV security system, leaving authorities without immediate video evidence from the premises.

A meticulously planned break-in
Preliminary police findings suggest the heist was carefully coordinated. The intruders first breached the main iron gate of the commercial complex before targeting the showroom’s security shutter. To bypass the shutter's heavy central locking mechanism, the thieves broke the floor tiles where the lock met the ground. Investigators suspect the culprits used heavy-duty iron crowbars, ropes, or hydraulic car jacks to force the shutter upward, shattering the glass doors behind it to gain access to the interiors.

Police launch probe
Upon receiving the alert, senior officials from the Nadapuram police station, accompanied by fingerprint experts and a forensic canine squad, rushed to the scene to gather evidence. Forensic teams have successfully retrieved several latent fingerprints from the damaged glass panels and doorframes.

The police are currently scanning CCTV footage from neighbouring commercial establishments and street surveillance cameras to track the movement of suspects and any getaway vehicles used in the heist. Owner Riyas, who also runs another mobile outlet nearby, is assisting the authorities with the inventory tracking.