A vigilant security guard caught a 22-year-old youth who was trying to flee after stealing a mobile phone from an auto-rickshaw awaiting refuelling at the Sector-31 petrol pump.
The accused, Surinder Kumar, is a resident of Mohali.
The security guard, Mohd Juman, told the police that on Wednesday afternoon, there was a long queue of autos awaiting refuelling. Meanwhile, he noticed another auto drive in. A youth hopped out from the vehicle and swiftly stole a mobile phone from the dashboard of another auto, before making a dash for it.
But, Juman said, he, along with his manager Dinkar Rao, caught the accused and recovered the phone from him, before handing him over to the police. A case under Sections 379 (theft) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the Sector-31 police station.