Daltonganj: Police arrested a former panchayat samiti member and his brother-in-law for allegedly running a theft racket targeting govt schools, block and circle offices and panchayat secretariats in the district.The arrested accused were identified as Awadesh Bhuiyan, 35, and his brother-in-law, Amod Bhuiyan, 30. Police said the duo allegedly stole electronic equipment instead of cash from govt institutions.The stolen items included desktops, CPUs, UPS units, printers, laptops, home theatre systems and biometric attendance devices. The recovery of biometric devices from rural schools has puzzled investigators as the equipment has little resale value. Police are probing whether the devices were stolen for another purpose.Naudeeha Bazaar police raided Bhuiyan’s house two days ago and recovered several stolen electronic items.Palamu SP Kapil Chaudhary said, “Police recovered desktops, laptops, printers, home theatre systems and several other electronic items from Awadesh Bhuiyan’s house. All the items had allegedly been stolen from government institutions.”Police said Bhuiyan was a former panchayat samiti member from Namudaag East Tola and held the post from 2010 to 2015. After the seat was reserved for women in 2015, he fielded his wife in the election, but she lost.The SP said Bhuiyan later took to crime and began stealing electronic equipment from government institutions. Amod allegedly helped him steal and sell the equipment and remained undetected for years.
