Thief poses as cable operator, tricks 7-yr-old into stealing jewellery from home

A thief posed as a cable operator to steal jewellery and cash from a home when only a seven-year-old boy was present.

The theft was reported from T Dasarahalli, near Sri Rama Bhajana Mandira, in northern Bengaluru on September 28.

Dishanth, a class 1 student, returned from school around 1.15 pm. He took the house key from his mother who was in the family's nearby grocery store and walked home. His father, Chandrashekar, had gone to a hospital for a cardiac check-up. Dishanth's elder brother was still in school.

Upon reaching the house, Dishanth saw a stranger walking up the stairs. As he opened the door and removed his shoes and socks, the stranger walked up to him and took him to the terrace. He said he was a cable TV operator and had come to restore their connection.

After reaching the terrace, the stranger asked Dishanth to hold the cable until he finished the repair and then asked him to come down. The stranger then walked downstairs while Dishanth remained on the terrace, holding the cables.

Also Read | B'luru pvt firm employee loses phone, Rs 1.8 lakh to strangers he met at coffee shop

Dishanth stood there for 10 minutes and then decided to go downstairs as his hands were aching. When he asked the stranger if he had finished the work, the man replied that some work was still left. The man then walked away, saying he would be back soon with a cutting plier. But instead of heading downstairs, he jumped to the stairs of an adjacent building and disappeared.

When Dishanth's elder brother returned home a while later, he found the almirah open. Suspecting something fishy, he alerted his mother, who was still in the grocery store. She rushed back and was stunned to find that 35 grams of gold jewellery, more than one kilogram of silver articles and Rs 8 lakh in cash were missing. She alerted her husband. On September 29, he filed a police complaint.

Police have taken up a case of cheating and theft in a dwelling house. "We are verifying CCTV footage for clues about the thief," a senior police officer said.

While the theft has left the family devastated, they were relieved that the thief didn't harm the boy. "He seems to be a professional thief. Without breaking the lock, he opened the almirah and stole the valuables in just 10 minutes," he said.

According to Chandrashekar, his son believed the stranger was a cable operator. This was because Chandrashekar hadn't recharged DTH for the last three months in view of the children's education. The thief must be aged 20-25 years, according to Dishanth, Chandrashekar said.