Laptop thefts land ex-shoe shiner in jail

TAKHTBHAI: Hamid Ali used to polish shoes in Karkhano Market to earn his livelihood. However, a drug addict once showed him an easy way to make quick bucks: how to steal laptops from roadside cars.

“I started noticing cars having laptop bags inside them and when the driver would park the car, I would reach the back door and stealthily open it while trying to make sure that the driver did not see me.

“As soon as the driver would park the car and press the car lock remote control, all doors, except the one open would close and once he or she would leave the car, I would pick the laptop and other items inside it,” he said.

Hamid was arrested by the police in Mardan police on Tuesday. District Police Officer Sajjad Khan said that he had formed a team after Abdul Wali Khan University’s Computer Science Department Chairman Dr Maqsood Hayat reported to the police about the theft of his laptop, hard disc and other documents from his car a few days ago. The police using scientific techniques arrested Hamid Ali, hailing from Afghanistan but currently a resident in Madina Colony in Peshawar. “Hamid would sell the laptops to shopkeepers in Peshawar and Charsadda districts. We also recovered five stolen laptops from his possession,” he added.