A 31-year-old BTech graduate has been arrested for allegedly stealing electronic gadgets from doctors at hospitals in Delhi-NCR, Jaipur, Mumbai and Pune as he bore a personal grudge against them, said police.
The accused, Vikas, told police that he wanted to target doctors as they did not give him concessions while treating him for Covid despite him being unemployed since the lockdown.
Police said Vikas was booked in six similar cases in Pune and Mumbai. “In 2021, while undergoing treatment for Covid, his request for a concession on medical bills was denied by a Pune hospital; this left him in debt. Harbouring resentment since then, he began targeting hospitals and doctors’ chambers,” said DCP (Southeast) Ravi Kumar Singh.
He added that as part of his modus operandi, Vikas used to frequently travel to Metro cities and stay at low-cost hotels to avoid suspicion and save money. To evade detection, he avoided using SIM cards and used WiFi networks of the hotels.
Police said Vikas looked up prominent hospitals on Google, mapped their layouts and identified vulnerable zones, such as unattended doctors’ chambers.
“During peak working hours, he infiltrated hospital premises, dressed as a visitor, and entered vacant OPDs or staff rooms to steal high-value items such as laptops, mobile phones, cash, and accessories,” said an officer.
He then forged bill books prepared in advance to generate fake sale invoices, which he used to sell the stolen electronic items in local markets, the officer added.
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Police said that before he arrived in Delhi on April 8, he had stayed in Jaipur for 21 days and committed several thefts.
On April 10, the oncology department of a private hospital in Sarita Vihar reported a burglary. Police were informed that an unidentified person stole laptops and phones from the OPD room.
Police said that an analysis of CCTV camera footage and technical surveillance led them to Vikas, who was staying at a hotel in Paharganj. He was arrested on April 14.
“He had committed thefts at famous hospitals in Dwarka, Noida and Vasant Kunj,” said the officer.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd