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Chandigarh: Army deserter arrested for thefts
Accused Harvinder Singh alias Karan, who is also known as Fouji, 27, belongs to Mohali; had deserted the army about seven years ago due to his drug addiction
A 27-year-old man, who had deserted the army about seven years ago due to his drug addiction, was arrested for committing multiple thefts, Chandigarh Police said on Wednesday.
Accused Harvinder Singh alias Karan, who is also known as Fouji, 27, belongs to Mohali.
Complainant Sudha of Sector 51, who works as a government schoolteacher in Chandigarh, had on October 29 lodged a first information report (FIR) regarding burglary at her house.
Sudha said that she, along with her son, had gone to Punjab’s Ferozepur on October 25. “When I returned on October 29, I found ₹95,000, gold jewellery, including four pairs of ear rings, one ring and one gold chain, besides other valuables stolen,” she told the police.
The FIR was registered under sections 380 (theft), 457 (whoever commits lurking house-trespass by night will be punished with imprisonment) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code at the Sector-49 police station.
His arrest also led to the recovery of a motorcycle, three Activa scooters, one TV, two cameras, nine gas cylinders, 92 coins of different countries and a bag in which he used to keep the stolen jewellery.
How a hard disc dumped in park led to his arrest
Harvinder landed in police net following the seizure of a hard disc found dumped in a Mohali park. As per the police, a local had found the hard disc with the complainant’s phone number written on it. He called Sudha and later approached the police, who identified the accused through the footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area.
Driven by drug addiction
Harvinder, the police said, was addicted to smack and committed crimes in order to fund his addiction.
He had reportedly joined the army in 2015 and was posted in Jammu and Kashmir, where he worked as a driver for a road opening party.
He left the army within nine months of joining and started working as cab driver here, the police said.
Two cases of thefts were registered against him at the Sector-31 police station in 2020, but he became active in the tricity area in mid-2021.
“He used to break into locked houses under influence of drugs and steal everything he could lay his hands on,” said a senior police officer privy to the case details.
The stolen two-wheelers, which were recovered on his disclosure, were used by him to commit thefts.
