‘Deaf and dumb’ thief held for stealing electronic gadgets

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Virender Vij said that at least 10 forged certificates issued in Tamil Nadu were recovered from the suspect which showed him to be deaf and dumb.

A suspect posing to be deaf and dumb, was nabbed for allegedly stealing valuables from residences located in Sushant Lok-I in Sector-43, police said on Thursday. The suspect is a part of a gang from Tamil Nadu that operates across the Delhi-NCR region, including Gurugram, police added.

The suspect has been identified as Jagdish Govindan (23), hails from Vellore in Tamil Nadu. (Representative image)

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Virender Vij said that at least 10 forged certificates issued in Tamil Nadu were recovered from the suspect which showed him to be deaf and dumb.

“The suspect kept acting to be deaf and dumb for almost an hour by making hand gestures after his arrest. But when interrogated sternly, he started speaking and confessed his crime. He even spoke Hindi,” DCP Vij said.

The suspect has been identified as Jagdish Govindan (23), hails from Vellore in Tamil Nadu. Police said he had stolen three laptops from a house on April 12 and another laptop and a mobile phone from another house on May 25.

DCP Vij said that Govindan was arrested from near Gold Souk mall in Block-C on June 6. “He has disclosed details of one of his accomplice. He used to give the stolen items to him for dispatching them to Vellore via train with the help of other members,” the DCP added.

Kumari said police came to know that a member of the gang operates in a specific area for a few weeks. “The old member is replaced by a new one to avoid getting caught. They carry forged deaf and dumb certificate to show people that they are begging for a living,” she said.

Police said the gang members come from Tamil Nadu via train and live in rented accommodations at Sarai Kale Khan area in Delhi.