Dehradun police have arrested seven thieves from Rajpur and Patelnagar and recovered stolen items from their possession on Tuesday.
The five thieves arrested in Rajpur area have been identified as Mohammad Shakir, Mohammad Wakil, Mohammad Tarik, Aalamgir and Mohammad Shalu -all natives of Bijnor inUttar Pradesh. Petalnagar police, on the other hand, have arrested two thieves — Golu and Ravi-both natives of Himachal Pradesh, said Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajay Rautela on Tuesday.
The investigation revealed that some of accused were old hands, having been sent to jails for their involvement in theft cases in the past too.
Rajpur police said the accused disclosed during investigation that they had conducted recce during day time in the hostels of educational institutions and other rented accommodations where students were staying mostly as paying guests. They were unnoticed because they were looking like college students.
He further said two theft cases wherein laptops, mobile phones were stolen by unidentified persons were reported in Rajpur Police Station over the past two days. Subsequently, a case under section 380 of IPC was registered against unidentified persons in the Rajpur police station. A police team was formed and they started searching the accused.
In course of the investigation, it was found that in the past, some persons hailing from Bijnor were involved in laptop and mobile theft cases. Acting on a tip- off, police arrested the five accused. Police recovered laptops, mobile phones and cash Rs 5300 from their possession.