Theft in Ludhiana showroom

Amrita Tejasvi

Ludhiana

November 27th, 2007

Over the last two weeks, a series of thefts have taken place in different
showrooms of Ludhiana. Recently the retail outlet of Annex Computers, was
targeted by a bunch of burglars, who fled with three laptops, LCDs and printers
of brands like HCL, Toshiba and Compaq. The items were worth Rs two lakh. The
serial numbers of laptops are Toshiba-77077366R, HCL-9074AX086708,
Compaq-2C372604CS.

"When I came to open my office on Monday last, the shutter of store was
open and the locks were broken. Inside, the products were scattered and three
laptops and few other items were missing," said Amit Malhotra, Proprietor
of Annex computers. Malhotra denied involvement of any of his office employee or
known person in the incident. He said, "I don't think that it is done by
any known person. The fashion in which it has been carried resembles that of
other showrooms where theft took place in the last few days." Malhotra also
expressed his annoyance over the non-cooperative attitude of local policemen and
said that they initially refused to register the FIR and kept on delaying the
matter with lame excuses.

"They were not ready to listen to my complaint though it has been fourth
theft in a row in the town. I went to police station numerous times but in vain.
Finally, I had to take the support of IT association in Ludhiana and the matter
was heard only when the president put pressure. Police are not concerned about
the problems of individuals. They look into a matter only when they are
pressurized by a strong body," said Malhotra.

Gurpreet Singh Pradhan, President of Association of Computer entrepreneurs
agreed that the behavior of police was very disheartening and individuals have
to make lot of unnecessary effort to even file an FIR.

"Due to the pressure of association, police had no choice but to
register the complaint. The association will give full support to the members
whenever needed and will see that the case is solved," said Pradhan.