Law thrown to winds: Man steals iron rods, made to shift bricks

In a weird incident that reportedly broke the law, a house owner forced a person to do manual labour as a ‘punishment’ to the latter for stealing iron rods. The incident, which became the topic of gossip, was reported from Chandamari Padia area in Balasore on Thursday. 

As per reports, construction work of Dhiren Nayak’s house was underway. After finding the iron rods missing. Nayak checked the CCTV footage and a man identified as Kalia Giri was seen stealing the rods in the evening while no one was around. The accused was identified. When interrogated, he admitted to his wrongdoing. He also said that he sold the rods for Rs 250 and bought junk food. 

However, the house owner, instead of handing over the accused to the police, allegedly took the law into his own hands and made the accused shift bricks at the construction site.  

“I had stolen around two and a half kg of iron rods. I sold the rods for Rs 250 and spent on food. After being caught, I was beaten and made to shift bricks from one place to another,” Kalia rued. 

As for the incident, house owner Dhiren Nayak alleged, “For the last six months, construction of my house has been going on. Every day, some articles go missing. Two days ago, iron rods worth Rs 5000 were stolen. On checking the CCTV footage, I identified the man. He was seen passing by my house on Thursday.  We caught him and he admitted to having stolen the construction material.”

Nayak stated that the accused should have been handed over to the police, but he sympathized with the poor man. “I asked him how to make up for the stolen item. The accused on his own accord offered to work for me till the amount is paid off,” Nayak added.