Gurgaon police catch burglar, say he was part of TN gang that used forged disability certificates as alibi

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Jagdish Govindan (23), a native of Vellore in Tamil Nadu. He was booked in two recent cases of burglaries in Gurgaon. Police said on May 25 and April 12, he had allegedly stolen several laptops and a mobile phone from two houses in the city.

“The accused was arrested near Gold Souk mall. A probe has found that he used to pass the stolen items to an accomplice, who would then dispatch them to another associate in Tamil Nadu via train for the purpose of selling them in that state. His modus operandi was to lurk around houses early in the morning and check if the house door was ajar when the occupants were asleep,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Virender Vij said.

Police said that after his arrest, the accused pretended to be hearing and speech impaired and only resorted to hand gestures to mislead the police. Later, during sustained questioning, he started to speak and confessed to the crime.

A police officer, requesting anonymity, said, “The gang used to operate back and forth between Delhi-NCR and Tamil Nadu. Older members were replaced by newer ones for a few months to evade getting caught. All the electronic items that were stolen were sold in Tamil Nadu. When anyone suspected their involvement or they were caught, they would show forged disability certificates to get off the hook.”

Police said they were trying to identify other members of the gang and probe a larger nexus.