Coimbatore IT Firm Reports Theft of MacBook and iPhones by Employee; Police Probe

Coimbatore: A team leader working at a private software and technology firm in Coimbatore has been accused of stealing several high-value electronic gadgets, including an Apple MacBook, multiple iPhones and laptops, over a period of three weeks.

According to police, the firm, located on Sungam–Carmel Garden School Road in Puliyakulam, is headquartered in Bengaluru and has around 40 employees working in shifts. Abhishek (31), who has been serving as the company's manager for the past three months, was overseeing a routine audit and verification of electronic equipment when several items belonging to the company were found missing on October 25.

The missing items included an Apple MacBook, an HP gaming laptop, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, an iPhone 16, two iPhone 17 phones, an iPhone 17 Pro, an iPhone 16 Pro, two Titan smartwatches, Ray-Ban sunglasses, Lenskart sunglasses and a Colgate dental kit. The value of the missing items is estimated to run into several lakhs of rupees.

As there were no signs of outsiders having entered the office, the management suspected the involvement of an insider and examined the CCTV footage. The recordings reportedly showed Velmurugan, who worked as a team leader at the firm and hails from Thandala in Kallathur village of Ariyalur district, allegedly stealing laptops, iPhones and other expensive items over the past three weeks.

Based on a complaint lodged by manager Abhishek, the Ramanathapuram police registered a case and launched a search for Velmurugan, who is reportedly absconding.