Mangaluru: When he fixed a mobile phone in the ladies toilet in Mangaluru University and switched on the camera, he hardly had a clue that the same camera would help the police trap him! Though he had covered his face to ensure that the camera did not reveal his identity, the peculiar way of his dressing and his gait gave him away, the police said.
Within 14 days of receiving the complaint, the Konaje police arrested a second-year Marine Geology Student, Santhosh, for placing the mobile phone in the toilet of the Bio Sciences Department at the University. A girl student found the mobile phone placed inside the toilet on August 24 and a complaint was filed at the Konaje police station on September 1.
The mobile was sent to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory for technical study. The police did not wait for the report, instead carried out their own investigation and succeeded in arresting Santhosh of Sullia under IPC section 354C.
The Konaje police, led by Inspector Ashok, started collecting details of the case. The first and the only clue for the police was in the mobile camera where a masked man was spotted in a clipping.
Though there was nothing to identify him, the police took this as a base for the investigation and studied his way of dressing and gait. Though for anybody his dress would look normal, the police observed that he wore the dress in such a way that his vest could be seen near the collar of the shirt.
The police began zeroing in on the suspects and questioned 82 people.
“Based on these details and various other aspects, including the CCTV footage near the shop where the accused bought the mobile phone, we arrested Santhosh. The technical information and ground intelligence helped us nab him,” Police Commissioner Chandra Sekhar M. told reporters.
Mr Shekhar declared a cash prize of Rs 10,000 to the Konaje police team, of which Rs 5,000 will go to constable Shivaprasad, who played a key role in identifying the accused.
“The accused has confessed that he committed the crime alone and fixed the mobile in the toilet in early hours of August 24, (the same day the girl found the mobile in the toilet). It looks to be the work of a pervert,” he said.
Santhosh did not attend college for 2-3 days after the incident was reported. He was confident that the FSL report would take time because of the unrest in Bengaluru. But, the police arrested him even before the FSL report arrived.
Santhosh had bought the mobile, which was a second hand set, about two weeks before fixing it in the toilet.
