Hyderabad: As the police have begun to rely more on technical clues to solve cases of theft, offenders are getting savvy about not leaving any incriminating evidence. Not carrying cell phones, masking faces, and wearing gloves are some of the methods they us to avoid detection.
House breakers caught by the police of the tri-commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda, are said to have told investigators that their ‘gurus’ in jail guide them on what mistakes to avoid while committing a crime and the precautions they must take to avoid being caught.
A police officer from the city said fingerprints have been helping in solving crimes for some time now. But since this is well known to criminals, they wear gloves. Many cases have been cracked by tracing mobile signals, so now offenders avoid carrying mobile phones when committing a crime.
“Offenders in theft, burglary, and robbery cases who are caught share their experiences with other offenders while in jail on why and how they were caught, and what to do to not get caught. That is how the recent trend of wearing a mask or tampering with the number plate of the getaway vehicle has grown. It is becoming more difficult to trace offenders,” said the official.
In a daylight heist at Vanasthalipuram, where a gang of seven persons looted around `58 lakh by diverting the attention of the employees of a cash management agency vehicle at Panama crossroads, the robbers did not use mobile phones so as to avoid being traced and caught. Though they were identified through CCTV camera footage, they could not be caught.
In a case of murder in Medchal in July, a 16-year-old girl was found dead with her throat slit and face disfigured. The police questioned the girl’s father and some other suspects, but came up with nothing. There was no CCTV camera and the cell phone signal was not available. A senior police official however says that technology can only act as supporting evidence. It should be used to connect the accused to the crime, but you cannot rely completely on technical clues to solve a case.
Explaining this in regard to a case in Cyberabad commissionerate, he said: “Some time ago, a chain-snatching offence took place on the outskirts. The offender was aware that he would be captured on the CCTV cameras and used a helmet. He also removed the registration plate of the bike and did not use a mobile phone. But, he left a clue by changing his shirt before and after the offence and was subsequently caught. There are many such cases in which technical information is used to connect the accused to the crime.”
Another officer said that there are many unsolved property offence cases. In most such cases, the offenders either have not used a phone or masked their faces and used gloves so they don’t leave any fingerprints. At some point, the offender makes a mistake in a hurry to escape and then would be caught, the officer added.
