Police officer booked for stealing, selling lost mobile phone in Keralam

A senior police officer attached to the Chandera police station in Keralam has been booked for allegedly stealing and selling a mobile phone worth around ₹10,000 that had been handed over to the station after being found on the road.

The accused has been identified as Y. Biju, 41, a native of Neerchal in Kasaragod district. A case was registered against him at the Chandera police station on October 27, following a preliminary inquiry conducted by Sub-Inspector Vishnu S. Nair on the instructions of the station authorities.

According to the FIR, the incident occurred on October 12 when Biju was on sentry duty. He allegedly took a mobile phone from a drawer at the sentry desk where it had been kept for safekeeping. The phone had been handed over to the police on October 8 by a migrant worker residing near the Chandera police station after he found it lying on the road.

Biju was on sentry duty that day and received the device. Its receipt was recorded in the station’s general diary and sentry records. The police later identified the phone as belonging to a homemaker from Ramanthali. She was informed that the device had been recovered and said she would collect it from the station the following day. However, she did not turn up.

As the phone could not be traced, the Sub-Inspectorlaunched an inquiry with the assistance of the cyber wing.

An examination of the IMEI number revealed that a SIM card linked to a mobile number had been used in the device from October 15. The number’s tower location was traced to the Neerchal area under the Badiadka police station limits. Investigators identified the SIM card user as Muhammad Aris.

Aris was summoned to the Chandera police station and appeared on October 24, handing over the mobile phone to the police. During questioning, he reportedly said that an acquaintance who was a police officer had sold him the phone on October 13.

Investigators subsequently focused on Biju after learning that the phone had been sold in the Neerchal area and that the seller was a police officer attached to the Chandera station.

A review of the duty records established that Biju had been on sentry duty on October 12. CCTV footage from the police station reportedly provided crucial evidence.

According to the inquiry report, the footage showed Biju approaching the sentry desk at around 10 p.m. on October 12 and removing the mobile phone from the drawer. The footage also allegedly showed him removing the SIM card from the phone, breaking it into pieces and throwing them behind the station. During a subsequent search, two pieces of a SIM card were recovered from an area behind the police station.

The FIR states that the pieces were seized on October 24 and a mahazar was prepared at the station. The mobile phone, SIM card and seizure reports have been included in the case documents.

A detailed report based on the preliminary inquiry was submitted to the district police chief, who had directed that action be initiated against Biju.

The allegedly stolen phone has since been recovered and taken into police custody. Further investigation is underway.