MANGALURU: The Mangaluru city police recently arrested two Rajasthani youngsters who have been traveling throughout several states and robbing Amazon of Rs 1.29 crore.
Raj Kumar Meena, 23, and Subhash Gurjar, 27, the accused, had come up with a novel way to make quick cash. Under false pretenses, they would place orders for expensive cameras and laptops as well as some inexpensive goods. They would divert the delivery staff during delivery by switching the stickers on the expensive items with those on the less expensive ones. They would then cancel the orders after giving the high-value items the wrong OTPs.
When Mahindra Logistics, Amazon’s delivery partner, learned about the sticker-swapping technique and informed Amazon of it, the fraud was exposed.
According to Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal, the suspects were implicated in 11 further crimes involving expensive laptops, iPhones, and cameras that totaled more than Rs 10 lakh. Assam, Odisha, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala were among the states where these cases were located.
Under the fictitious name “Amrith,” the two placed an order for ten more products and two expensive Sony cameras on September 21 in the Mangaluru case. The materials were supposed to be delivered to a location in the city close to the KSRTC bus stop. While Gurjar diverted the delivery staff and replaced the original stickers on the Sony camera boxes with stickers from the other items, Meena picked up the packages upon arrival and gave the OTP for a few unimportant ones.
The delivery confirmation process was then delayed because Raj Kumar provided the wrong OTP. He was sent away after he and Gurjar told the delivery staff that they would pick up the cameras the next day. Suspicions were raised when they later canceled the camera order.
Mahindra Logistics reported the sticker switching to Amazon after seeing it during inspection. Police took action after an investigation verified the fraudulent behavior. The pair was apprehended by the authorities, who also confiscated Rs 11.45 lakh in cash that they had obtained through the sale of the pilfered cameras.
According to Commissioner Agrawal, “the accused were initially identified by understanding their pattern of ordering through Amazon.” Officers followed them to the airport as they tried to flee the delivery site after using CCTV footage that yielded important clues.
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