Thimphu police arrested a 28-year-old man from Wangdue in burglary cases that occurred on October 18.

A man filed a compliant with Thimphu police on October 18, saying that two men robbed him at a corridor in one of the buildings in the town.

According to the police, the man said that he was walking in the corridor of the central mall at Norzin Lam in Thimphu when two men followed him.

One of them held him from behind and the other snatched his two mobile phones and a wallet containing about Nu 3,500 and some Thai Bahts, and ATM cards. They then ran away.

On the same night, another man called the police around 10:50pm and said that two men robbed him of his mobile phone.

According to the man’s statement to the police, he was drinking with his friends near Ama’s Karaoke in Thimphu when the two men claiming to be from the same village as the complainant joined them.

One of the men asked for the complainant’s mobile phone to make a call. The duo started to walk away from the complainant as they made a call. The complainant, who followed them, was beaten up and they ran away with the mobile phone.

The police, with the help of CCTV cameras in the town, identified the two suspects.

The police arrested one of the men the next day. A mobile phone and the ATM cards were recovered from the alleged suspect.

A police official said that the man was an ex-convict and he was found to be involved in both the burglary cases reported on October 18.

The suspect’s accomplice is still at large.

The official said that losing or theft of mobile phones is one of the highest cases registered with Thimphu police.

This year, about 763 larceny cases related to mobile phones have been registered with the police till date.

The cases were registered under larceny, larceny of property lost delivered by mistake, and larceny by deception.

Buyers of pre-used mobile phones are advised to have the details of the seller to avoid getting charged for the theft of a mobile phone. “Those who retrieve the lost mobile phone should either try to contact the phone owner by keeping the phone on or report to police,” the official said.

Besides keeping note of the IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) number, phone owners are also advised to inform the service provider to block the SIM to prevent misuse after they lose their phone.

Dechen Tshomo