E-Paper
Chandigarh’s quarantined cop links copper wire thief to TikTok video, cracks case
Was given the task of scrutinising social media accounts of domestic helpers in advocate’s house where theft was committed
Being quarantined for Covid-19 can have its benefits, as proved by a Chandigarh police constable who used the spare time to crack a case of theft after getting leads from TikTok videos and CCTV camera grabs, police said on Monday.
Constable Gurjant Singh, working with deputy superintendent of police (DSP) central, Krishan Kumar’s team, identified Mukesh Singh, 20, and Manish alias Golu, 18, as the men who had attacked and injured city advocate Amit Sethi as he tried to stop them from stealing copper wire from the rooftop of his Sector 9 house on March 17.
Gurjant Singh, who was given the task of scrutinising the social media accounts of people who worked in Sethi’s house while quarantined, found similarities between the suspect spotted in a CCTV grab and the TikTok videos of a domestic helper.
Further investigations revealed that the helper was Mukesh’s sister and that he too had been worked for some time at Sethi’s residence.
“The… person in the TikTok video resembled the thief seen in the CCTV video. That was our first clue that led us to Mukesh,” said Krishan Kumar.
After his arrest Mukesh admitted that he had worked in the past with Sethi and had decided to steal the copper wires from there. But as Sethi, on hearing noises, decided to come up and investigate, Mukesh and his accomplice attacked and injured him.
After committing the crime the two wanted to escape to West Bengal and had also booked train tickets, but the Covid-19 lockdown forced them to stay back, Krishan Kumar added.
The two men were booked under Section 34 (acts done by several persons with common intention), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 379 (punishment for theft), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Sethi had been treated at the hospital for injuries and released later.
