New Delhi: Police in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara are on the lookout for a very unique criminal—a man who broke into a mobile phone shop and stole 30-40 brand new handsets worth Rs 3-4 lakh, all while wearing a Narendra Modi mask to conceal his identity.
A senior police officer from Bhilwara told ThePrint that based on CCTV footage, the suspect was first seen lurking in a nearby school in Kareda town. Later that night, when all shops had shut in the nearby market, he began to try and break into the mobile shops.
The first attempt was made at 12.44 am. Shop owner Dinesh Kumawat told ThePrint that his CCTV camera had captured the man trying to break in. “The locks did not break, but he continued to try. There was nobody in the area to raise an alarm.”
It was the CCTV footage Kumawat provided to the police that showed the suspect wearing the Modi mask.
After a few failed attempts, the man is seen moving to Kumawat’s friend’s mobile shop, entering from the roof.
“I don’t have CCTV cameras, so I only found out about the incident when I opened my shop. At least 30-40 phones are missing. We informed the police and a case was registered,” said Laxman Sen, the shopkeeper. “I found the lock on the gate leading to the roof stairs broken. The thief entered through this route, gathered expensive smartphones from various reputed brands, and fled.”
A senior police officer said that the suspect most likely picked up the Modi mask from the nearby school where he was spotted.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)