CUDDALORE: Computer equipment stolen from the Faculty of Engineering and Technology at Annamalai University has been recovered by Annamalai Nagar police, a month after a complaint was lodged by university authorities.
The equipment, procured under the Tamil Nadu government’s ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ scheme, had been stored in the Information Technology department's computer laboratory when it went missing. K Selvakumar, Head of the Department of Information Technology and the scheme’s coordinator at the university, filed a formal complaint at the Annamalai Nagar police station following the incident.
Acting on the complaint, Inspector K Ambedkar registered a case and initiated an investigation under the supervision of Cuddalore District Superintendent of Police S Jeyakumar and Chidambaram Sub-Division Deputy Superintendent of Police T Augustin Joshua Lamech.
During the course of the probe, police arrested J Livin Ajay (18), a first-year student of the Diploma in Mining programme at the same faculty. He hails from Arasakuzhi near Virudhachalam.
According to police, computer parts valued at Rs 5 lakh — including 15 CPUs and nine monitors — were recovered from the accused. Investigations revealed that Ajay had made failed attempts to sell the stolen items on OLX and to private individuals. Eventually, he concealed the equipment in bushes behind the university premises.
Based on his confession, police traced and retrieved the items. The accused was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday evening.