Caught by people, freed by Ahmedabad police

In an ironic twist, a thief who was caught and handed over to the police by the public managed to escape from detention on Thursday.

However, the police do not have any record of the thief and he remains unidentified, except for the fact that he was deaf and mute.

The police control room on Wednesday late night received a call from the residents of Bharwadvas in Vastrapur telling them that they had caught a thief red-handed.

The irate public had bashed up the crook before handing him over to the Vastrapur police.

According to the police, the thief had to be taken to Sola Hospital as he was severely injured.

Sources said that the thief indicated that he wanted to use the washroom, before being given medical treatment.

But after a couple of minutes the police realised that the thief had escaped -- from the ventilator of the washroom. By the time the police realised this, the thief, apparently, was far away from them.
According to sources, a police complaint has been lodged with the Vastrapur police. "Technically, the case has to be filed with Sola police station since the hospital falls under their jurisdiction," said a police official. Vastrapur police, however, refused to comment.