Hyderabad: Sometimes courage and technology can achieve what official channels fail to deliver. Frustrated by police inaction, a govt employee from Karnataka tracked down his stolen phone himself—and in the process uncovered a stash of 10 more stolen devices. After the complainant, Shiva Kumar, highlighted the inaction of cops to Hyderabad police commissioner VC Sajjanar, five policemen were suspended on Tuesday. Shiva, who owned two phones linked to the same email ID, used the device’s tracking feature to follow the trail.Shiva, who came here on official purpose, lost his mobile near Secunderabad railway station nearly two weeks ago. Hoping for swift action, he approached Chilkalguda police first. Instead of urgency, he was told to return later. “Making use of the technology available on my other phone, I traced the location of the lost mobile phone to Mehdipatnam,” he recounted. But at Mehdipatnam, the response was equally apathetic. Mehdipatnam police handed him a beat policeman’s number, which was switched off. Realising precious time was slipping away, Shiva decided to act on his own. “I started to track the phone’s location and reached Tipu Khan bridge. I found five persons who started to flee on seeing me. As I continued tracking, the signal showed the accused moving close to my location. I finally spotted him at a bus stop talking to somebody, and grabbed his phone,” Shiva told TOI.The accused managed to escape, abandoning a bag. “Inside, I found not only my phone but 10 more stolen devices, which were continuously ringing,” he added. Shiva’s persistence caught the attention of Sajjanar. “The complainant called me and shared his experience. I ordered a probe and found irregularities on the part of the five policemen and they were suspended,” Sajjanar said. Shiva was felicitated by the commissioner at his office.
