Carpenter held with 20 heritage chairs missing from Panjab University

Identified as Sarafraj, 48, of Baltana in Mohali, he deals in heritage furniture items, collecting them from thieves and further supplying them to brokers and junk dealers after repairs

Making the first breakthrough in the case of missing heritage furniture from Panjab University, Chandigarh Police have arrested a carpenter who had bought the chairs from the thief.

Also, 20 of the 48 chairs that had gone missing from the sociology department between November 1 and 3 have been recovered. Efforts are on to identify and arrest the thief, said police.

The carpenter has been identified as Sarafraj, 48, of Baltana in Mohali. Police said he deals in heritage furniture items, collecting them from thieves and further supplying them to brokers and junk dealers after repairs.

He was arrested by the crime branch from near the jungle area behind Panjab University on Friday. He was carrying two chairs and turned towards Dhanas on seeing police. Later, his interrogation led to the recovery of 18 more chairs from the jungle area. He was produced in court on Saturday, and remanded to three-day police custody.

The missing furniture included 36 chairs from the department’s seminar hall at the ground floor, 10 chairs from the second floor hall and two chairs from the department’s office. After the theft surfaced, the department made internal inquiries.

A complaint was forwarded to police on November 12, and an FIR was registered under Section 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Friday. After the carpenter’s arrest, Section 411 (Dishonestly receiving stolen property) was added to the FIR.