Out-of-work mobile repair mechanic turns thief in Chandigarh

He told the police that he, along with his three accomplices, had broken into a shop by breaking the shutter lock of the kiryana store behind it.

Out of work due to lockdown, a mobile phone mechanic was arrested with 33 mobile phones worth Rs 9 lakh, stolen from a shop in Sector 37 here on the intervening night of May 27 and May 28.

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The accused, Mani Rattan, 27, of Bhaskar Colony, Sector-25, who has no previous criminal record, is learnt to have told the police that he, along with his accomplices, committed the theft to meet daily expenses as they had no work owing to lockdown.

Having studied up to Class 12, Rattan is a mobile repair mechanic, who works from his house.

He told the police that he, along with his three accomplices, had broken into the shop by breaking the shutter lock of the kiryana store behind the shop. They had then broken the partition to gain entry into the shop, he said.

Rattan was arrested at a naka near the UIT Gate, Sector-25, during the checking of vehicles on a tip- off. During the checking, the police recovered one stolen mobile phone from his possession.

On May 28, Anil Dhingra of Sector-21, had lodged a complaint with the police that thieves had stolen 55 mobile phones from his shop in Sector-37.

Rattan was produced before a district court, Sector-43, here and remanded to 3-day police custody. Efforts are on to arrest his accomplices, identified as Islam, Rohin and another