NEW DELHI: When Surjeet Singh received a call from Delhi Police asking him to collect his cellphone and Rs 1,000 that were snatched from him in 2017, he was pleasantly surprised. Police had recovered the phone two years back, but it was gathering dust in one of their stores as a case property since then.
On Wednesday, south Delhi police returned 435 such items to their owners.
“I work as a plumber and had saved money to buy that phone. One night when I was returning home, three men thrashed me and snatched it. Police had later informed me that they were caught, but I did not get my phone back then. I have got a new phone now, but will keep this recovered one as a memento,” said Singh.
DCP (south) Atul Thakur said that during a scrutiny, it was found that 148 cellphones among other items were stacked at the stores of different police stations of south Delhi even after the cases related to them were solved. The legal process was expedited and the items were handed over to the owners in a ceremony held at the Saket police station.
“We are identifying more such properties and will conduct similar exercises to hand those over to the rightful owners,” added Thakur.
Police officers say that a bulk of the case property at these stores included vehicles seized during checks and mobile phones recovered from criminals.
Radhe Shyam, a businessman from Saket, had visited the police station five times in the past two weeks to get his impounded scooter back. But every time, he had to return empty-handed due to the legal process involved.
“I had given up hopes about getting back my scooter and was intending to buy a new one before police returned it to me on Wednesday,” he said.
Another scooter owner, Adarsh Nagar, whose vehicle was seized near Saket during the lockdown period vowed to abide by the rules when he was given back the vehicle. “I have promised myself that I won’t ever break the law again. I was worried that the scooter would be damaged and I might get it back after several years of legal fight, but fortunately I got my vehicle back in a good condition,” he said.
On Wednesday, south Delhi police returned 435 such items to their owners.
“I work as a plumber and had saved money to buy that phone. One night when I was returning home, three men thrashed me and snatched it. Police had later informed me that they were caught, but I did not get my phone back then. I have got a new phone now, but will keep this recovered one as a memento,” said Singh.
DCP (south) Atul Thakur said that during a scrutiny, it was found that 148 cellphones among other items were stacked at the stores of different police stations of south Delhi even after the cases related to them were solved. The legal process was expedited and the items were handed over to the owners in a ceremony held at the Saket police station.
“We are identifying more such properties and will conduct similar exercises to hand those over to the rightful owners,” added Thakur.
Police officers say that a bulk of the case property at these stores included vehicles seized during checks and mobile phones recovered from criminals.
Radhe Shyam, a businessman from Saket, had visited the police station five times in the past two weeks to get his impounded scooter back. But every time, he had to return empty-handed due to the legal process involved.
“I had given up hopes about getting back my scooter and was intending to buy a new one before police returned it to me on Wednesday,” he said.
Another scooter owner, Adarsh Nagar, whose vehicle was seized near Saket during the lockdown period vowed to abide by the rules when he was given back the vehicle. “I have promised myself that I won’t ever break the law again. I was worried that the scooter would be damaged and I might get it back after several years of legal fight, but fortunately I got my vehicle back in a good condition,” he said.
Coronavirus outbreak
Trending Topics
LATEST VIDEOS
More from TOI
Navbharat Times
Featured Today in Travel
Get the app