Bicycle thief runs out of luck
Every afternoon, forty-two-year-old ‘LIC’ John would go for a long walk. After an hour, he would return to his house in Golden George Nagar in Mogappair with a bicycle. He was stealing bicycles from adjoining neighbourhoods and his luck ran out a few months ago, when CCTV cameras captured him in the act of unlocking a bicycle from a house on Third Street in Officers’ Colony in Anna Nagar Western Extension.
Getting a nickname from his association with the government-run insurance company, ‘LIC’ John had been a notorious petty thief for nearly two decades, targeting bicycles in Tirumangalam, Mogappair, Anna Nagar Western Extension, Nolambur and Padi.
John decided on stealing bicycles as they are not only easy to steal, but also enable him to make his escape, police sources say. In nearly two decades, the neighbourhood of Anna Nagar Western Extension has lost more than 30 bicycles, ranging between Rs. 6,000 and Rs. 8,000.
One of these bicycles belonged to the neighbourhood’s Association president V. Rajagopal. A long-time resident of Anna Nagar Western Extension, Rajagopal said that after he found the bicycle missing from his house, he along with a few neighbours, went to the public park where the cameras are monitored in a small room, and monitoring the footages, they found a man taking away the bicycle, which was not locked, from Rajagopal’s house. He immediately informed the police, who after seeing the image found that it was ‘LIC’ John. In the next few days, John was nabbed and the bicycle recovered from him.
The neighbourhood has 20 CCTV cameras, each having a storage capacity of 21 days. Apart from CCTV cameras, residents also have private security guards, especially at night. The locality comes under J.J. Nagar and Korattur police station limits.
(By D. Madhavan)
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The curious case of a pair of trousers and some cash
Snatch theft was a common form of robbery at Sundara Murthy Vinayagar Koil Street, Triplicane. Even helmets were being targeted. The thieves were at large. That's when CCTV cameras installed along the street helped the residents nab the thieves. CCTV surveillance played a crucial role in exposing the culprit, when an amount of Rs.13,000 went missing from a house on the street. According to the residents, it is still unclear if the culprit intended to pocket the pair of trousers which had the money or the amount itself. Realising the money was missing, the residents alerted the Association secretary, who inspected the footage captured by the CCTV camera.
Based on the footage, they suspected a few women who were frequenting the area. They set out on an intensive manhunt, identified and verified the culprits. Based on the evidence they gathered, they informed the police and the culprits were arrested.
(By Shiba Kurian)
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Motorcycle thief tracked down
A cable TV operator who was attending to a job at Krishnaveniammal Street in Aminjikarai did not expect his two-wheeler to be the target of a neighbourhood thief. He had forgotten to remove the keys from the vehicle and when he returned after completing the assignment, the vehicle was missing. Fortunately, Krishnaveniammal Street was among the few streets in the locality that had invested in CCTV cameras two years ago.
Around 15 families pooled in Rs. 3,000 each and fixed four cameras and this came in handy. The cable operator approached G. Lakshmipathy who had the monitor installed at his house. “It wasn’t difficult getting hold of the footage as the cable operator came to me immediately. We saw a person speeding with the two-wheeler from the street,” recalls Lakshmipathy, president of Ayyavu Naidu Colony Residents Welfare Association.
The clippings were recorded in a pen drive and taken to the local police station. “It took a week to nab the thief as he had fled the neighbourhood, but we certainly made the job easier for the police,” says Lakshmipathy, adding that the cable operator got back his vehicle back.
(By Liffy Thomas)
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‘Last Deepavali, we cracked a case’
Last year, around Deepavali, a thief gained entry into a cracker shop in Lakshmi Nagar, Nanganallur, and stole a gift box worth Rs.15,000. The surveillance system captures the thief showing the stolen gift box to another thief, who asks the former where he stole it from. When he says from Lakshmi Nagar, the other advises him to return the box to the shop, telling him that he is likely to be caught as a result of the surveillance system installed in the neighbourhood. The next day, around 6 a.m., the thief keeps the stolen cracker box at the entrance of the shop. Later, a woman is seen walking past the box, without having a second look at it.
It’s not always about thieves
A resident of Fifth Street, Lakshmi Nagar, Nanganallur, drops his purse accidentally while alighting from his car.
The next day, he informs the office-bearers of the Mandram about the incident. They monitor the footages and see another resident picking up the purse. When they approach this resident, he returns the purse, relieved. He was trying to ascertain the identity of the owner, but there was nothing in the purse to point to him (the owner).
(By T.S. Atul Swaminathan)
