INDIA FORMER COP ACCUSED OF STEALING COMPUTERS AND CPUs DNA - Mumbai - Former cop held for stealing computers - Daily News & Analysis:

Former cop held for stealing computers

Prakash Raut used to ‘steal’ laptops and CPUs from godowns posing as a cop

A former police constable was arrested on Thursday in Mahim on charges of stealing several computers, laptops and CPUs. Prakash Raut, 46, who was suspended from the police force in 1994, used to brazenly pick up laptops and computer processing units (CPUs), posing as a cop, from godowns and offices in the city, according to the police.

On Thursday, Mahim police personnel arrested him along with a local cybercafe owner, Narendra Singh Gill, 31, following a tip-off.

Police Inspector Vinayak Savade told DNA: “We maintained a watch over Raut, who was out on bail for a robbery he committed in Bhandup in 2005. We got information that he planned to meet an associate in Mahim. As it turned out, Gill, who ran the cybercafe, had stocked up much of the stolen goods in his cafe, from where the police recovered two laptops and 11 CPUs.”

Police Sub-inspector Raju Sakhpal said the police had also identified several visitors to the cafe to whom the duo sold several stolen CPUs and laptops. Raut’s modus operandi was unique: he visited the place of robbery, acting as a confident cop. “During his visits he impressed the watchmen and others about his official status as a policeman.

He also managed to make a key of the godown’s gate. Then on a Sunday night he would reach the godown in a tempo at night and decamp with all CPUs he could lay his hands on,” said Sardar Patil, investigating officer in the case. Raut is a resident of Saki Naka and his family consists of his wife, daughter and two sons, the police said.