Ghaziabad: The station house officer of Bhojpur police station was sent to police lines after a man accused of multiple thefts fled police custody.Police said they had arrested the man, Arif, on Wednesday in connection with two thefts from a house belonging to Hari Om in Amarala village on March 8 and another house belonging to Ashok in Sukkan Garhi village on Aug 24.After his arrest, police said he was seated in the station’s dining area when he allegedly distracted a constable, climbed over a wall and fled from the premises. His escape was caught on film and the video soon surfaced on social media, triggering a backlash against the cops. SHO Giriraj Kishore Singh was transferred to police lines.The cops on Thursday carried out a joint operation along with the SWAT team of the rural zone and arrested Arif again near Kalchhina underpass. Police recovered the gold and silver jewellery that he had stolen from the two households. He was allegedly on his way to sell the valuables when he was arrested.ACP Modinagar Bhaskar Verma said Arif is originally from the Bhavanpur area of Meerut and had been living for some time in Dehra village of Dhaulana in Hapur district. He said during questioning, he admitted to 15 thefts along with his accomplices Furkan and Sameer. Police records also indicate that cases of theft and robbery had previously been registered against him in Meerut, Kavinagar and Pilkhuwa.
