Mumbai: IT firm staffer returns post-exit, walks out with seven of the company’s laptops

MHB police officers with the recovered laptops. Pic/By Special Arrangement

The MHB police have arrested a 25-year-old man for allegedly stealing laptops from a multi-dimensional business company operating from its Borivli West office. The accused, Vivek Sahani, was a former employee of a reputable IT services firm and had been assigned to work in the complainant company's IT department on an outsourcing basis. The theft came to light after several laptops were reported missing last month.

According to police, Sahani and three other engineers had been deputed to the company under an outsourcing arrangement from a well-known software company. While Sahani had left the job after his contract ended in March, the other three engineers continued working at the Borivli office located on Devidas Lane.

"Last month, the three engineers reported to the head of the IT department that seven laptops had gone missing from the premises. After an extensive search yielded no results, the team reviewed the CCTV footage," said a police officer.

"The footage showed Sahani entering the office on April 18 carrying an empty sack bag. He was later seen exiting the IT room with the same bag, now appearing full. Suspicious of his actions, the company's IT manager filed a complaint with the MHB police station," said the officer.

Under the supervision of Senior Police Inspector Mahesh Balwantrao, PSI Nilesh Patil and his detection team launched an investigation and tracked Sahani to Nalasopara. He was detained and questioned, during which police recovered not seven, but 10 stolen laptops from his possession.

"Sahani confessed during interrogation that he had stolen all the laptops from the office and was looking for buyers to sell them," said an officer from the MHB police station. Sahani was arrested and produced before the Borivli Metropolitan Magistrate Court, which remanded him to judicial custody, the officer added.