The theft of 62 expensive tabs — each costing Rs 30,000 — from a government-run health centre in southern Bengaluru’s Jayanagar was executed flawlessly.
Credit: iStock photo
Bengaluru: The theft of 62 expensive tabs — each costing Rs 30,000 — from a government-run health centre in southern Bengaluru’s Jayanagar was executed flawlessly.
There was no CCTV footage, no eyewitnesses and no signs of obstruction at the crime scene. Using duplicate keys, the thief entered the PHC on July 9, stole 62 Lenovo tabs and sneaked out. It was as easy as pie.
However, he made a small but fatal mistake.
On July 10, Siddapura police received a complaint from the General Medical Officer (GMO) of the health centre. The complaint stated that 62 Lenovo tabs and two batteries had been stolen from the centre.
When the police launched an investigation, they encountered several challenges. There was no direct or indirect CCTV footage. However, police noticed that the locks were intact and there was no sign of forced entry, suggesting that the theft was an inside job.
Police summoned all employees who had access to the centre and found everyone’s answers convincing. They ran background checks on employees and looked for technical leads.
“We interrogated people who previously worked at the centre but nobody seemed to know anything,” a police officer who oversaw the investigation told DH.
Among those questioned was 36-year-old Srinivas, a Hosakerehalli resident who had worked at the health centre during the Covid pandemic under a short-term contract.
Police interrogated him about the keys but he denied having them.
With the investigation reaching a dead end, police decided to get the network analysis reports of the phones of all those who had access to the centre.
Meanwhile, police zeroed in on an SOS call that emerged from the health centre on the night of July 9.
The SOS came from Srinivas’s phone. Since it was dark, he switched on his
mobile phone to use the torch but accidentally dialled the emergency number instead.
Once it was clear that Srinivas was at the health centre on the night of the theft, police picked him up for questioning. He confessed after intense grilling.
According to police, Srinivas possessed a duplicate key to the health centre and hadn’t returned it. The authorities were unaware of this.
The investigation revealed that Srinivas had visited the health centre on the day the Lenovo tablets arrived. The gadgets were to be issued to Asha (healthcare) workers. Srinivas devised a plan to steal the devices and make a quick buck.
On the night of July 9, he drove an auto to the centre, stole the tabs, shifted the cartons into the three-wheeler and fled.