Mobile phone theft in educatiol institution worries students

From a Correspondent

JORHAT, Dec 11: A series of mobile phones of various brands, especially smartphones, have been lost by students of a premier educatiol institution Luit Valley Academy in Jorhat during examition that started from December 1. Initial reports suggest that the first loss was reported by a student to the institutiol head on Friday which was followed by another loss of a costly handset on December 4.

 So what was first thought to be a case of loss due to negligence turned out to be a case of theft after two more mobile handsets went missing from students’ bag on December 7 followed by five more on Friday totaling 9 which has created sensation among the students. One student on condition of anonymity while talking to The Sentinel said, “Our college is conducting pre-test and as per predefined rules during examitions, we keep our bags in the corridor or next to the classroom. But to our utter dismay we found that nine students have already lost their mobile phones from day 1 till today. One such student from Dergaon has already filed a missing FIR indicating theft of the mobile in the Dergaon police station. Repeated occurrence of the incident has led us to believe that it is indeed a case of theft.”

 Meanwhile college authorities have opined, “Students are prohibited from carrying mobiles and other electronic gadgets into the classroom as well as inside college premises. Despite a notice to it already in force in the front gate of the college, many students fail to adhere to the guidelines. Besides we also have a deposit counter in the main gate and had the students deposited the same there, the college would have taken custody and guarantee.”

 Further, they said, “After we received the first complaint we went through our CCTV footage to ascertain foul play or theft but since most students enter and come out almost in the same time before the commencement and ending of the exams, it has become difficult to point fingers at a single person committing the crime. However, we have advised the students to lodge an FIR each with the police and take necessary action to block their SIM card and initiate mobile tracking. But we have information on loss of three mobile handsets till now and absolutely no knowledge of the number exceeding to nine. Most importantly, parents must restrict their children from bringing in such costly gadgets to the college.”