Smartphone worth Rs 1.3 lakh stolen from a student in BMTC

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: An engineering student allegedly lost a smartphone worth Rs 1.3 lakh to pickpockets while he was travelling to college in a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus in the city.

The 19-year-old student, Vivek Gowda, in his complaint to the police said that he realised his phone was missing only when he got down the bus.

A resident of Hampi Nagar in Vijayanagar, alleged that the incident took place on Monday when he took a bus from Maruti Mandir to reach Nayandahalli on Mysuru Road.

The student expressed suspicion upon two passengers who appeared to be in their mid-40s.

After he found his phone missing from his pocket, Gowda rushed back into the bus to look for it, but was perplexed. He suspected a passenger who was standing behind him earlier.

Vivek saw the person getting down from the front door of the vehicle. Since he had suspicion and no proof, he alerted the conductor and other passengers on the bus about a pickpocket’s presence.

This followed chaos among the passengers. After that, Vivek borrowed a phone from a passenger and dialled his phone number.

Upon ringing, a man picked up, and asked Vivek to meet at the BHEL bus spot. When Vivek reached there, he found no one. He again asked for help from a stranger and called on his phone number.

This time, his phone was found to be switched off. "I suspect that the man deliberately asked me to come to BHEL to use it as deception. He asked me to come to another bus stop so he could escape from Nayandahalli," he added.

The police are checking the CCTV footage from the bus and from the area to identify the accused.