Bhubaneswar: After OTV reported the feat of an IIT Bhubaneswar PhD scholar who was able to trace a thief who had stolen his mobile, Police Commissioner YB Khurania invited him to his office and congratulated him.
The PhD scholar Asutosh Acharya of IIT Bhubaneswar after meeting Khurania said, “Sir has a very positive attitude, he inspired me to grow in future and encouraged me for my achievement in tracing the mobile thief.”
Asutosh further informed, “The Commissioner has already called Inspector-In-Charge of Saheed Nagar police station to nab the thief within two days.”
Asutosh’s phone had been stolen on July 16 morning from the hostel room of a friend in Utkal University campus where the former had stayed overnight. A complaint had been lodged at Saheed Nagar police station and even the DCP had been informed about it.
As the police investigation was going on at a slow pace Asutosh decided to trace the mobile on his own and did it through Mi Cloud facility that linked his handset with his email account.
Asutosh found out that the handset was with a person residing at Haridaposhi village under Tigiria police limits in Cuttack district. He had even shared the information with Saheed Nagar police.
But as the police was late in taking action, Asutosh visited the village with some friends and contacted the Tigiria police who allegedly misbehaved with them. The matter was informed to Saheed Nagar police and when they called the Tigiria police the latter did not receive it.
Later in the morning Asutosh with help of a local media person visited the village again and contacted the person, a mobile shop owner, who initially had the mobile. The shop owner proved his innocence by showing video of the thief which shows how the latter is bargaining to sell the mobile and agreed to help to nab the actual thief.
In the mean time, the thief had sold the phone to another person who even co-operated in finding the thief. Unfortunately, the thief fled from the village sensing danger but the phone was recovered.
“We found out the thief is residing at Vani Vihar slum and visits the village in every two to three days, sells stolen mobile phones and returns. It will definitely be a reward for me if the thief is nabbed as phones of many persons will be recovered. One more request is that police should be smart to nab such thieves,” added Asutosh.