A woman reported to a policeman on a road around the Kolkata Leather Complex area that her mobile phone had been stolen by a co-passenger on a private bus on Wednesday morning.
Aduri Mondal approached sergeant R.N. Layak to report that a man on the bus on the Shyambazar-Malancha route snatched her phone and jumped out when she raised the alarm.
She told the police that he had crossed the road, hailed a yellow cab and went away in the opposite direction along Basanti Highway.
All this happened within a few minutes..
The cop immediately left on his motorcycle and caught up with the taxi not far from the Science City crossing after a 2-km chase.
The man denied having anyone else's phone on him but the woman's mobile was recovered and handed back to her. The accused was arrested.
The incident happened close to gate number one of the Kolkata Leather Complex around 8.40am, police said.
“By the time the bus was stopped and Mondal could alight to chase the snatcher, the man had crossed the road and boarded the taxi,” said an officer in the traffic department.
Mondal then reported the matter to sergeant Layak, who was not far from the spot.
Acting on the instructions of officer-in-charge of Tiljala traffic guard Souvik Chakraborty, Layak started chasing the taxi on his official motorcycle and caught up with the four wheeler at Bamanghata.
“The accused, later identified as Sheikh Manirul, had initially denied charges of theft. But on questioning for a few minutes, he apparently admitted his fault and took out the stolen phone from his pocket,” the officer said.
The phone was handed over to Mondal.
Manirul was handed over to the local police station, where he was arrested under the IPC section related to theft.