Strange act: Katpadi cops let thief nabbed by victim go scot-free
On Monday morning, Saravanan and his friends caught the culprit red-handed when he was riding the stolen two-wheeler near a private theatre abutting the bridge across the Palar.
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VELLORE: Strange are the ways of the Katpadi police. Even after a person whose two-wheeler was stolen caught the thief and handed him over to the police, the latter let the accused go scot-free after promising to remand him on Tuesday.
Saravanan, an entrepreneur who lives on the main road in Brammapuram near Katpadi found that his two-wheeler left locked outside his house was stolen last Sunday. He immediately complained to the Katpadi police who refused to even give him a CSR.
On Monday morning, Saravanan and his friends caught the culprit red-handed when he was riding the stolen two-wheeler near a private theatre abutting the bridge across the Palar.
Talking to DT Next, he said, “I immediately informed the Katpadi police and soon the Sub Inspector (SI) and a couple of constables arrived. The SI in a fit of virtuous rage said that he would remand the thief and hence believing him, I along with my friends took the nabbed accused and the two-wheeler to the Katpadi police station.”
Elaborating, he said, “I was asked to come that same evening and when I did so the cops changed both their tune and tone. I realised that they had allowed the nabbed culprit to go scot-free after getting him to sign a statement that he would return with the ‘actual’ culprit. Till now the real culprit has not been brought to the station by the person whom they set free. When I asked them for the return of the vehicle they also refused. My 4-year-old vehicle which I maintained in pristine condition was dilapidated now with many scratches.”
Sources revealed that sand smugglers used such stolen two-wheelers to load and carry 50-kg bags of sand in HDPE (High-Density polyethylene) sacks from the Palar River to various destinations.
When accosted by police the usual practice was to drop the vehicle and flee. Also rarely are CSRs provided for two-wheeler theft cases as police ask owners to search for the vehicle themselves.”
When mentioned about this to Vellore Range DIG MS Muthusamy the latter ordered the SB inspector to look into the issue.