Laptop Thieves Caught !

The campus community was recently shocked by the most audacious theft racket in the recent past. The sheer number of thefts, mostly of laptops, occurring in the campus within a span of about two months baffled many. On 2nd June, much to the relief of the entire campus community, Prof. Manindra Agrwal, the Deputy Director, sent a mail informing everybody of the racket being busted. Vox decided to delve a bit deeper into the episode and here is what we found.

 [Thursday, 1st June 2017]

SiS Security Guards stationed at Hall X, noticed a suspicious person climbing the boundary of the hall and decided to follow him. After a while, they cornered him and questioned him regarding the nature of his business, to which he confessed to stealing a laptop on that day and nothing more.

He was handed over to the law enforcement agencies for further questioning, where he revealed that he is a worker in the mess of Hall VI (GHT). He further revealed that he was working under the directions from the mess supervisor of the same hall which led to the lost laptops being found.

The kingpin and some of the operatives, belonging to Bara Sirohi village, were caught and are presently in custody of the law enforcement agencies.

Let’s go back to when it all started and trace it back to this bust…

[Sunday, 2nd April 2017]

One of the earliest incidents in the series of thefts, two rooms in Hall III were ransacked when the unsuspecting residents went out for some work-related matter, leaving the room unlocked.

[Monday, 1st May 2017]

One room in Hall II was wiped clean of the wallets, laptops, mobile phones, chargers and even earphones, when the unaware residents went out for lunch in the hall mess, leaving the room unlocked.

[Friday, 26th May 2017]

One laptop was stolen from the PK Kelkar Library when the rightful owner of the laptop went out for to get some snacks.

[Wednesday, 31st May 2017]

It was movie night in the quads of Hall IV. A theft occurred in a room, when the resident went to a washroom in Hall IV. He reported the theft when it came to his knowledge. A SiS patrol vehicle was sent there, on the lookout. It’s driver went on a loo break near the bridge by the boundary between the swimming pool and the hall of residence and noticed a rice bag (jhola). The stolen items (from that day itself) were recovered from the bag. Apparently, the thief had thrown the bag outside the boundary wall and was alerted by the guards.

This incident led to the theorizing of the fact that mess workers could be behind this.

[Present]

Combing operations have resulted in the recovery of 13 laptops and few mobile phones, of which 10 laptops have been identified by true owners to establish their ownership. Further, 2 laptops along with a mobile phone were sold in West Bengal, while another was sold in MP. Law enforcement agencies are coordinating with the state administration of these states to recover and bring back the same. IIT Security section is collaborating with law enforcement agencies to facilitate the return of the items to the legal owners. The owners of the stolen items are yet to acquire their lost belongings, which they will be getting back after almost two months.

…

The most surprising part of this whole episode was the cunning with which the thefts were planned. The perpetrators scaled up the boundary walls of the hostels, avoiding the main gate as far as possible. They used 5 kg rice sacks to carry the laptops and other articles stolen, often carrying pliers and other tools to break open locks if required. Then they used to loiter around in wings, with a possible alibi of picking up utensils (supported by the jholas), cold drink bottles and other such articles.

 The rapidity and perfection with which the entire episode lasted, that too for over two months, was probably one of the most challenging cases faced by the institute administration, especially the SiS office. With the reputation of SiS guards and campus security on the line, they acted with the institute authorities and student co-operation with great alacrity and dedication to reinforce the belief in tight security in the campus.

All we can say in the end is “Savdhaan rahe, Satark rahe aur dekhte rahe Crime Patrol. Shabba Khair.”

Written by Ishank Modi, Richeek Awasthi, Soumyadeep Datta, Siddharth Saxena, Manjeer Majumder, Pratyush Rai