The latest video to go viral on social networking site Facebook is one of a youth pocketing an expensive mobile phone even as his alleged accomplice talks to its owner in a camera showroom. The CCTV footage of the incident, which occurred in Phoenix Mall in Velachery, was posted by the owner of the stolen phone, who also owns the showroom, in an attempt to help nab the suspect and retrieve the phone.
The 18.56 minute-long footage shows a man in a blue shirt and carrying a helmet standing opposite the cash counter and conversing with the woman. Talking to The Hindu , the woman, who identified herself as Tresa David (32), said “The man came to the shop and told me he wanted to purchase a camera and was waiting to receive a call from a friend to find out the model number. Meanwhile, another man in a white shirt came in and asked me for a battery. My attention was diverted and in the meantime, the man in blue stole my iPhone that was on the table and slipped out.”
Tresa’s cousin Sebastian, who assists her at the showroom, pursued the man and intercepted him but he claimed he was innocent. “It was only when we examined the CCTV footage that we realised the truth,” she added.
Tresa posted the video on Facebook and it has gone viral with numerous appeals from netizens to the police to track the suspects and retrieve the phone.
“I have all my personal data including my bank account details stored in the phone. I lodged a complaint with the Guindy Police the same night but I did not get an FIR copy till now as I was told that the sub-inspector concerned was unavailable. However, a police team came to the shop on Thursday evening for investigation when I was not around,” she added.
Tresa claimed that examination of CCTV footage from a camera at the entrance of the mall revealed that the man in the blue shirt and the man in white had come to the shop on the same motorcycle.
