'Hard disk thief' leaves police flummoxed

After credit card and cell phone thefts, the latest crime to rock Mumbai  is the theft of hard disks.

The thefts take place any time between 0900 IST and 1700 IST, and invariably on Sundays, when most offices are closed, and the target areas are Colaba, Cuffe Parade, Marine Drive and the MRA Marg police station limits in south Mumbai.

Police suspect it is the handiwork of a 'well-dressed guy with a mobile and a briefcase'.  He knows his hardware, too. He doesn't bother himself with the outdated Pentium IIIs, the police said.

And he is one cool guy. Says Cuffe Parade police station Sub-Inspector (crime) Ashok Gajbhiye: "In one particular office, he had opened the refrigerator and had a cold drink!"

Zone-1 Deputy Commissioner of Police Naval Bajaj said, "We believe it's the work of one robber or a group of robbers. They had stolen several computer hard disks from various offices in Mittal Tower. That was their biggest operation. They broke the locks of more then 10 offices on three different floors."

Bajaj, however, denied the data in the hard disks might be misused.

He said: "Such cases were reported earlier also, but there was no sign of the data being misused."