Surat: A scam involving the dispatch of duplicate products in the name of branded items from a Flipkart warehouse in Kamrej has come to light. In the fraud, customers allegedly received fake products instead of original laptops and mobile phones. The value of the fraud is estimated at ₹82.73 lakh.

It is learnt that the fraud allegedly involved warehouse staff themselves. The accused would allegedly remove the original products from the warehouse, replace them with duplicate items in the packaging, and send them to customers. When customers returned the products after finding the issue, the return parcels would reach the company, but the accused would allegedly sell the original products and earn lakhs of rupees.

The fraud came to light after a customer who had ordered an Apple MacBook realised that the product delivered was a duplicate and returned it. When the matter was brought to the attention of a Flipkart team leader, he visited the warehouse and checked the CCTV system, only to find that no recordings were available.

During the investigation, a total of 170 duplicate items were recovered, including seven laptops, nine mobile phones and 105 processors. Investigators suspect that several people from Kamrej to Ahmedabad may be involved in the scam.

When company officials began probing the matter, vendor Kani Chekhlia and his associates repeatedly denied any knowledge of the fraud. The mobile phones of the delivery personnel allegedly involved in the scam were also found switched off.

Based on a complaint filed by Flipkart team leader Jaideep Junjarao, a case has been registered against five people. The incident has raised serious concerns about customer trust in online shopping. DeshGujarat