TikTok traps Assam’s jewel thief

She was caught showing off ornaments.

May 30, 2020 04:24 pm | Updated May 31, 2020 12:16 am IST - GUWAHATI

The urge to show off her possessions — jewellery and designer clothes —via TikTok videos led the Assam police to crack a case of theft.

Nabajyoti Payeng of Suruj Nagar village in eastern Assam’s Jorhat district had a few days ago informed the local police that his maidservant Sumi Kalita was missing.

Missing jewellery

He also reported that gold ornaments belonging to his wife and son were missing as were other valuables, including designer clothes and watches.

The Pulibor police station in Jorhat registered a case after Mr. Payeng’s wife, Pallabi Phukan Payeng, lodged an FIR.

The Payengs did not have to wait long for the missing jewellery to be found.

Their attention was drawn to some TikTok videos in which a woman displayed an array of ornaments and clothes that looked familiar.

They also identified the woman as their missing maidservant.

The Jorhat police traced the woman to Dhopabor village under the Ghanhigaon police outpost in Biswanath district across the Brahmaputra. But the woman in the video sporting the jewellery was Anamika Lahon and not Sumi Kalita, as she had told the Payengs.

Many aliases

“She was caught late Friday (May 29) night and brought to the Gohpur police station. A police team from Jorhat is expected to take her away,” Biswanath district’s Superintendent of Police Rajen Singh told The Hindu .

The police said Lahon had assumed many aliases. But the police eventually traced her as the daughter of one Bipul Lahon and wife of Manoj Bora, both of Bedati in Biswanath district.

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