Panjab University missing heritage furniture: Two held, 15 chairs recovered

The crime branch of Chandigarh Police have arrested two more persons, including a woman, involved in the theft of heritage furniture from Panjab University, and have also recovered 15 more chairs.

The accused were identified as Usha, alias Sweety, 42, of Bhaskar Colony, Sector 25, and Naresh Mittal, 36, of Sector 41.

The duo was arrested on the disclosure of Sarfaraj, a carpenter from Baltana, who was arrested on November 20. He was produced before a court and his remand was extended by two days.

Out of 48 stolen chairs, police have recovered 15 more in addition to the 20 recovered following Sarfaraj’s arrest.

Both Usha and Mittal were arrested from Sector 25/38 light-point. Of the 15 chairs recovered, five were found from Usha’s house. Police said Usha was a habitual offender and had been previously arrested in theft cases. The other 10 heritage chairs were recovered on Mittal’s disclosure from a godown in Dhanas.

Manjit Singh, superintendent of the department of sociology, Panjab University, had reported that some unknown persons had stolen 48 heritage chairs from the varsity between November 1 and 3.

The missing furniture included 36 chairs from the department’s seminar hall at the ground floor, 10 chairs from the second floor hall and two chairs from the superintendent’s office. A case under Section 380 (theft in dwelling house) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at the police station in Sector 11.

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