Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (SP)

Karkala, Jul 3: In an incident which occurred late night on Wednesday July 1, unknown thieves broke into as shop dealing in cell phones and took away cell phones worth around nine lac rupees. Although this shop is located in the middle of the town and the junction where three roads meet, strangely no one noticed the theft.

The thieves went into the shop by breaking open the locks of the shutter and took away all the phones found inside. Closed circuit television cameras inside the shop have recorded the theft. The footage shows one of the thieves leaping over the table, collecting cell phones from the showcase, and placing them in the bag held by the other person. The face and entire body of the person collecting the phones is visible. He appears to be a north Indian, and was wearing Bermuda shorts. Rear side of the other person and his stretched hands can be seen in the video footage.

The thief who was inside gave a missed call from there by using his mobile. It is guessed that he would have indicated to the vehicle driver parked at a distance to come there. The policemen are following this lead. Several persons from Bajagoly and Miyyar including strangers have been questioned.

The sniffer dog led the policemen to Anekere pond from the spot before returning. Some people near the temple had seen four persons on two scooters passing through car street at around the same time late night on Tuesday. As renovation work of the temple is going on, several people are always present in the temple premises all through the day and night. They said the street lights at car street had gone off at around 2.30 am on Wednesday, when four people seated in two scooters moved towards the junction through the car street. They looked like strangers with bags on their backs. The same scooters moved towards Salmara via State Bank bend about 15 minutes later, it is said. Although no one is sure that the same scooters were involved with the thefts the next day, it is guessed that the same vehicles and thieves could have been involved, going by the timing of the theft.

District superintendent of police, Annamalai, visited the spot and has been guiding the investigations. A case stands filed in the town police station. It can not be denied that this theft happens to be the handiwork of a gang that has mastered the art of stealing cell phones, going by a spate of such thefts happening in coastal districts of Karnataka.

The theft occurred at 2.05 am on Thursday and the thieves took around ten minutes from then to finish their task and flee.