Kasargod: Man specializing in hospital thefts held

Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (SP)

Kasargod, Jun 26: Basheer (50) from Chengala in the district has been arrested by the policemen of town police station here. Allegedly, Basheer stealthily went around hospitals, looking for victims. He was taken into custody from near Kasargod Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here on the evening of Monday June 24.

The police recovered seven cell phones, a laptop, and some gold ornaments from the possession of Basheer. The ornaments belonged to a patient who got admitted into KIMS Hospital on the evening of June 12, it is learnt.

The policemen had kept a watch over closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the hospital, and came to know about the visit of Basheer there from the CCTV footage. The policemen, during interrogation, have learnt that Basheer was also involved with several other theft cases. Basheer usually kept a watch on patients who got admitted into different hospitals, and their relatives who came to stay with them, and stole valuables belonging to them after waiting for an opportune time.

The policemen had received several complaints of thefts from hospitals. They got hint about Basheer’s involvement in KIMS theft case, and arrested him. The laptop they seized is stated to be belonging to a doctor from a private hospital in Uppal, and the policemen are yet to establish the identities of the cell phones found in the arrested person’s possession.

Basheer was earlier working as a watchman in a hospital near Vidyanagar here. Thereafter, he took job as truck driver. Since some months, he was jobless, and roamed around, looking for opportunities to make easy money, it is said.