New Delhi : Exactly five months after the crime, the special task force has solved the Holy Child Auxilium School burglary. A youth from Manipur, arrested in May for trying to burgle his own school, Mount Carmel, is the culprit.
Rohul Moirangthem (19), who had since got bail, was arrested again on Monday after his fingerprints matched those collected from the drawer of the principal’s office. JCP (Southeast) Ranvir Krishnaiya has confirmed the arrest, reported the Times of India.
The south Delhi school had its alumna Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani come calling after the theft was discovered on February 13. Both the doors to the principal’s office and the accountant’s were found broken and cash worth Rs 12,500 and a few cellphones were found missing.
The incident was first suspected to have been an act of vandalism targeting Christian institutions. Teams picked up fingerprints and footprints from the premises. A total of 26 prints were picked up. Special commissioner (law and order) Deepak Mishra assigned the special task force of south district the job to investigate the case. A reward of Rs 50,000 was announced for anyone who could give any information about the culprit.
“CCTV footage showed three men scaling the school wall to enter and exit the premises. Five criminals who had committed burglary in 30 schools in the capital were arrested. However, they were not involved in this particular case,” DCP (South) Prem Nath said.
The 18-member STF team rounded up 500 suspects. Police had fingerprints of 1,000 suspects—collected from dossiers and in person—tested across 33 labs in the country. They even had the blood samples of the three campus dogs tested as they seemed to have been drugged on the morning of the theft. Police suspected the case to be the handiwork of drug addicts.
In mid-May, three students trying to burgle Mount Carmel School, South Campus, were arrested by the local police. STF chief Rajender Singh’s team had their fingerprints taken and sent to CFSL. The report arrived a month later on June 30. The prints matched those on the drawer of the principal of the Vasant Vihar school.
“The STF teams began looking for Rohul and it was learnt that he had returned to his hometown in Manipur after being granted bail in the Mount Carmel case. He was tracked down upon his return. He had been living in Nanakpura with his friends. He was interrogated on July 11 and arrested on Sunday,” P S Kushwah, DCP (II), south district, said. Rohul was taken on a day’s police remand. A search is on to nab the others involved in the theft.