JOIN USPG student held for placing camera phone in women's toilet
The Mangaluru police have arrested a post-graduate student and cracked the case of a live cellphone with camera in a women’s toilet at Mangalore University campus.
Police commissioner M Chandra Sekhar told reporters on Wednesday that the suspect, Santosh M (in pic), 22, is a second year MSc student of Marine Geology. A native of Sullia in the district, he stayed in the boys’ hostel on the campus. He has also confessed to the crime. According to the commissioner, the motive behind the act could be psychological. The cellphone he was using has also been seized to check for more footage.
“It was his particular way of dressing that helped us zero in on him, after quizzing 82 suspects during the course of investigation. He usually left his shirt’s top button open showing his vest. It was the same masked man (dressed in his characteristic style) who was captured on the same cellphone camera, while placing the device in the toilet.”
The commissioner said the meticulous groundwork of a posse of policemen led by Shivaprasad K attached to Konaje police station helped in cracking the case. The team gathered information, accessed closed circuit TV footage and matched the available details.
The commissioner said the case was cracked even before the forensic science laboratory (FSL) at Hyderabad released its report. The police worked with bare details like the cellphone and power bank seized from the toilet. Investigators had to rely on retrieving lost data from the cellphone. However, even as the report was being awaited, they were able to solve the case.
Santosh had bought the phone and power bank from different shops in a same commercial complex in the city just two weeks before the incident. He placed the mobile in the toilet on the day (August 24) a girl student noticed it. Soon after the incident came to light, the accused left the town and returned six days later.
Cops rewarded
The commissioner also handed over a reward of Rs 10,000 to the police team, with Rs 5,000 for Shivaprasad K for his efforts in tracing the accused.