A fight broke out at the Apple store in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex on Friday morning as shoppers and tech enthusiasts fought each other to buy variants of the new iPhone 17.
A video shared showed dozens of men jammed together like sardines in an overstuffed tin outside the glass-fronted Apple store, each slapping and hitting the other. The video also showed one man in a red shirt being dragged out from the clash by uniformed security personnel, one of whom he attempts to hit before the other drags him away.
As the video plays out another shopper, in a white shirt, intervenes and asks after the guard's welfare while his attacker is restrained. Throughout all this the confrontation goes on in the background; a third security guard with his lathi raised can be seen, but alone he could do naught.
Then a second miscreant, in a black-and-white shirt, is dragged from the crowd, this time by an armed guard in combat fatigues, and pushed away. Apple has commenced the sale of its newly launched iPhone 17 series across India, prompting large crowds and long queues outside flagship stores in Mumbai and Delhi.
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The argy-bargy in Mumbai, some shoppers told news agency ANI, was because of the lack of security. Mohan Yadav, a potential buyer who came from Ahmedabad, said he had been waiting since 5 am and that many people tried to cut the queues, leading to chaos at the entrance.
"I have been waiting since the morning. Have been standing in a queue... but the security here has no responsibility. People are breaking lines. Those standing behind don't get the chance to buy the product due to a lack of responsibility among the security officials," he complained.
A similar rush was seen outside the Apple outlet at Select Citywalk Mall in Saket, New Delhi, where buyers waited overnight to get their hands on the new iPhones. People queued outside on the road waiting for the mall to open so they could be among the first to buy the latest iPhone.
And another rush, though less chaotic, was seen at the Apple store in Bengaluru also. Apple has announced the iPhone 17 Pro and the Pro Max – the top models – alongside the regular iPhone 17 and all-new iPhone Air. The prices range from Rs 82,900 to Rs 2.3 lakh.
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