Two Engineering Students From Karnataka Steal Shih Tzu Puppy From Kerala Pet Shop, Arrested
The Kerala Police have arrested two youths from Karnataka for allegedly shoplifting a puppy from a pet shop in the state.
The accused, Nikhil and Shreya, were arrested from Karnataka's Udupi on Wednesday.
Accused are students?
According to the police, the duo, in their early 20s, are engineering students at a college in Udipi.
The 45-day-old Shih Tzu puppy they had stolen from a pet shop in Panangad, Kochi, has also been recovered from them.
They were arrested on the complaint of the pet shop owner Basith, who said that the Shih Tzu puppy, which costs around Rs 25,000, had gone missing on Saturday.
Hid puppy inside helmet?
CCTV visuals from the shop showed Nikhil and Shreya, who were travelling on a two-wheeler, entering the pet shop at around 7:00 pm.
According to Basith, the two youths approached a shop staff claiming they were looking to sell a cat.
In the CCTV visuals, Nikhil and Shreya can be seen checking several pets inside the shop, including taking out the Shih Tzu puppy from its cage.
As the shop staff was distracted, Shreya took the puppy and placed it in Nikhil's helmet before leaving in a hurry.
Another theft and UPI payment leads to arrest
The theft came to light only after the staff realised that one of the three Shih Tzu puppies they had in the shop was missing.
After examining CCTV visuals, Basith approached the police and filed a complaint.
Though their faces were identified from the CCTV visuals, police initially failed to make any progress in the case.
Cops got the first breakthrough in the case after it emerged that Nikhil and Shreya had made another unsuccessful shoplifting attempt at another pet shop.
The duo allegedly tried to steal pet food but were caught by the shop owner, after which they made a UPI payment using PhonePe.
From the UPI id, police identified the accused and the mobile tower location was traced to Udupi.
A Kerala Police team then travelled to the neighbouring state and arrested the two accused.
According to the police, they are also investigating whether the duo has committed more such thefts in Kerala.
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