Man held for stealing goods from Paonta isolation centre

Solan, September 19

The Paonta Sahib police today arrested Mehender (26) from Rampurghat who had stolen various items, including an oxygen concentrator, from an isolation centre created at the office of the Child Development Project Officer last year.

A complaint was lodged with the police last evening by health officials, who discovered the theft when they went to get an oxygen concentrator from the centre. After opening the locks, they found the door locked from inside. Its rear door had been broken and an oxygen concentrator, 47 fans, eight air conditioners, eight exhaust fans, two geysers, 28 taps, four halogen lights and two water coolers were found missing. They were valued at Rs 5.5 lakh.

The centre, which was opened in August 2020, had been closed since February. As per a preliminary probe, the theft had taken place about a month ago.

DSP Bir Bahadur said large foot impressions were found on the mattresses of the bed and it appeared the accused had stepped on them to remove fans. A search led to Mahender, owing to his height. He was arrested this afternoon at Rampurghat and a search of his house led to the recovery of several stolen items.

He was a habitual offender and nine cases had been registered against him since 2012. He will be produced before a local court tomorrow. — TNS

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