Crime: A 29-year-old man who was arrested in July for being involved in a series of burglaries confessed to police that he was the masked man who attempted to vandalise a Bank of Bhutan (BoB) Automated Teller Machine (ATM) located behind MKTS building on May 19.

The suspect is liable to pay Nu 91,120 to BoB for damaging the machine.

“He said that he left the scene that day, after seeing some people coming towards the ATM,” a police official said.

The suspect is also suspected to have been involved in human trafficking. As of now,  he is charged with 11 cases.

More arrests

The police official said that many burglary cases are being reported at the police station despite arrest of convicts involved in more than 39 burglary cases that occurred in Thimphu.

Police detained a 19-year-old man for breaking into a house in Babesa on August 6 and stealing Nu 110,000, a gold ring, a mobile phone and mobile vouchers worth Nu 3,000.

A knife and a jacket were found at the crime location, which helped in leading to the arrest of the suspect.

Police seized a phone, Nu 81,425 and two silk kiras from the suspect’s house. The suspect is involved in three other burglary cases.

At the same time, On August 13, police arrested a 28-year-old man involved in the burglary of three textile shops at the craft bazaar in Chubachu. Some purses and a laptop were seized from the man. The other suspect is still at large. The duo is also involved in burglary of the Immigration office.

Update 

Thimphu Police recovered an additional stolen items worth of Nu 0.25M(million) from a fifth suspect who was involved in about 30 burglary cases in Thimphu this year. Four suspects were arrested in July and earlier this month.

The suspects stole items worth about Nu 1.5M from residents in the city.

The official said that owners are yet to identify some of the stolen items the police had seized. The case is still under investigation.

Dechen Tshomo