Delhi Police have arrested three men and recovered 604 brand-new mobile phones worth around ₹1.5 crore in connection with the theft of a large consignment of smartphones that was being transported to an e-commerce platform in Gurugram, officials said on Friday.3 steal phones worth ₹1.5 crore from delivery truck; arrestedThe case came to light after an e-FIR was registered at Sector-23 police station in Dwarka on June 20 on the complaint of a warehouse manager, who alleged that around 1,500 mobile phones had gone missing during transit.Police said approximately 4,500 phones had been loaded onto a truck for delivery to the warehouse when the driver, allegedly in connivance with his associates, removed a part of the consignment before abandoning the truck with the remaining cargo in Gurugram and fleeing.Investigators formed a special team that analysed footage from more than 200 CCTV cameras installed along the most probable route to reconstruct the movement of the vehicle and identify those involved.The probe led police to a pickup vehicle allegedly used to transport the stolen phones. The vehicle, along with a portion of the stolen consignment, had already been recovered by personnel from Knowledge Park police station in Gautam Budh Nagar from the possession of three accused — Pankaj alias Dhirender, Anand alias Rudresh and Mohit alias Pundir.After obtaining production warrants, the Dwarka police formally arrested the trio in the case and interrogated them. Based on information provided during questioning, the team raided a garden in Bhighepur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district and recovered 604 brand-new Vivo mobile phones concealed there.Deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka) Kushal Pal Singh said, “The prompt coordination with the Uttar Pradesh Police, extensive CCTV analysis, sustained interrogation of the accused persons and timely follow-up resulted in the successful recovery of a substantial portion of the stolen property,” he said.Police said verification of the accused’s criminal antecedents revealed their alleged involvement in similar cases of theft and misappropriation of mobile phone consignments in different states. Investigators suspect they are part of a larger syndicate that targets high-value electronic consignments during transit and are working to identify and arrest the remaining members while recovering the rest of the stolen phones.