Ludhiana: A local businessman had to track down CCTV footage himself before police would log the theft of his family’s gold from a crowded auto-rickshaw. Cops explained the time loss: “We were verifying.”A transit gang stole the 6-tola gold jewellery early on May 24. Sunil Sahni, 32, of Basti Jodhewal, claims that Division Number 1 police waited until Monday to register a first-information report (FIR), that too after had made repeated visits to the station.Sahni, who runs a small-scale hosiery business, said he, his wife, and their children had returned from a wedding in Uttar Pradesh by train around 6.30am that day and boarded an auto-rickshaw to head home.“Near Mata Rani Chowk, three or four men got in and the way they chatted with the driver, it was clear they knew him,” Sahni said. “They crowded the vehicle so closely that we could not see our luggage.”Upon arriving at their destination, the family discovered a broken bag lock and a missing packet of their gold jewellery. Sahni filed a complaint quickly but spent four days visiting the station without success. He ultimately reviewed CCTV footage independently to identify the vehicle’s registration number, which he then provided to investigators.The process was further delayed when Sahni returned to UP to care for his ailing wife. Upon his return to Ludhiana, he visited the police station for three consecutive days before the case was opened.Assistant sub-inspector Somnath, the investigating officer, said the delay had occurred because of the initial verification step. “When we obtained the CCTV footage, we requested for the trader’s statement, but he had travelled to his hometown,” Somnath said.Following Sahni’s return, police registered the FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for theft and acts committed by multiple people with common intention. No arrests have been made.
