The video grab that helped Bharath Rathod nab the thief

BENGALURU: When the police said they were too busy to probe a theft at his shop, 26-year-old businessman Bharath Rathod did not waste time whining about it. Instead, he trusted his guts and played ‘Sherlock Holmes’ to track and nab the thief after a high-voltage chase in the busy KR Market area.

Rathod, who owns Punagar Fashions in Chickpet, caught the thief after matching the walking style, three finger rings and slippers as captured by the CCTV.

The accused has been identified as Jameel Pasha, a resident of Gangondanahalli in Chandra Layout.

The thief had visited Rathod’s shop on May 1 at 7.30pm. As Rathod was busy attending to other customers, the thief took advantage of the situation and vanished after pulling out a bundle of currency notes from the cash box. It was only in the night did Rathod realize that Rs 30,000 had gone missing.

“I scanned the CCTV footage for several days and finally found a young man bending over the cash counter and taking money. Though I went to the nearest police station for help, nothing happened,” Rathod said.

Rathod kept rewinding the CCTV and played the footage repeatedly. “So much so that the image of the thief was ingrained in my mind. His walking style, the darkblue jeans he wore and the black slippers and his silvercoloured rings got etched in my mind,” Rathod said.

Bizman caught thief after one-km chase

Things took an interesting turn around 4pm on May 9 when Rathod was walking in one of the lanes adjacent to his father’s shop in D R Market. “A youth caught my attention. The pain of losing the money and the image of the youth were flashing in front of me as I realized it was the same man whostruck myshop. When Iwent near him and asked who he was, he began to run,” Rathod said.

What followed was a km-long chase, he said, and added: “Passersby and fellow traders did not understandwhat was happening. But I finally managed to nabhim.Hewasthen taken totheCity Market police station.” But Rathod had to encounter another hurdle. “When I handed over him to police and I was asked to come the next day to file a complaint since there was a shortage of staff dueto election.”

Rathod was in for a shock when visited the station next day — the thief had been set free. When questioned, police personnelcounteredhim stating that he should have filed a complaint the previous day itself. He alerted senior police officers. Rathod said: “I got a call from the City Market police stating that they have caught the thief. When I reached the station, I finally saw the thief put behind bars.”

