Nagpur police arrest masked man in Gittikhadan home robbery using CCTV and gait analysis

Nagpur Police have arrested a man accused of entering a house in the Gittikhadan police station area, injuring an elderly woman and robbing the home. The accused is alleged to have worn a mask during the crime. As his face was hidden, police could not identify him, so investigators relied on his gait and body movements. Footage from about 80 CCTV cameras was scanned in the probe.

The accused has been identified as Clement alias Rohit Eugene Pillai, 35, a resident of Kirad Layout in Mankapur. He is alleged to have attacked the elderly mother of Raja Sharif, whose house was targeted. The arrest is being seen as a major breakthrough in the investigation. He was arrested on Sunday night.

Police suspect the same man also tried to enter an elderly woman's house in the Gaddigodam area. He fled for fear of being caught when the woman screamed. Police are now examining whether the two incidents are linked and whether the accused has been involved in other such cases.

Crime Branch Unit-2 conducted a parallel investigation led by Police Inspector Shubhangi Deshmukh. Technical evidence, CCTV footage and analysis of the accused's movements are said to have led to him.

The mask hid his face, making conventional identification difficult. Police reviewed recordings from the scene and surrounding areas to piece together the intruder's routes. The team went through footage from about 80 cameras and tried to work out which routes he would have taken before entering the house and after leaving it.

By matching recordings from different locations, police looked for a person whose movements and build matched the man seen near the scene. They also checked the direction he came from and the routes he took. His manner of walking and body movements gave the probe another lead, and this technical analysis took police to Pillai. The case was then taken forward on the basis of the available evidence.

Gait analysis looks at how a person walks. Investigators compare step length, walking speed, leg movement, body posture and rhythm of walking in video recordings. When the face is covered, these can be a useful link in an investigation. Footage from different cameras can show whether the walk of a man seen at one place matches that of a man seen at another.

However, gait analysis alone is not firm proof of identity or involvement in a crime. Footwear, clothing, the ground, injuries and camera angle can change the way a person walks. Such identification has to be tested against other evidence, witness statements and the rest of the investigation. In this case, police made it part of a larger probe that included extensive CCTV scrutiny and technical evidence.

According to the police statement, the crime took place at Raja Sharif's house in the Gittikhadan police station area. The intruder is alleged to have entered the house, injured Sharif's elderly mother and robbed the home. The targeting of an elderly woman inside her house made the case serious, and police stepped up the search. Information on suspicious movement in the vicinity was gathered, and recordings from nearby roads and residential areas were reviewed.

In the Gaddigodam case, police learnt during the probe that Pillai allegedly tried to enter another elderly woman's house. The woman is said to have screamed, which could have alerted others, and the accused allegedly fled without achieving his purpose for fear of being caught. Police are examining the circumstances of that incident and matching its evidence with the evidence from the Gittikhadan robbery. Whether the same man was involved in both has to be established in the investigation.

Police will also examine the accused's past criminal record and find out whether he is linked to other cases of house burglary or attacks on the elderly. His role in any other crime will have to be proved by evidence.

Crime Branch Unit-2 Inspector Shubhangi Deshmukh and her team were part of the investigation. Assistant Police Inspector Chetan Borkhede, Sub-Inspector Manoj Raut and other staff also contributed. The team included head constables Naresh Tumdam, Vijay Yadav, Praveen Shelke, Arjun Yadav, Mahendra Sadmake, Kamlesh Ganer, Mangal Jadhav, Sandeep Pandey, Ashish Dhandre, Sanjeev Dahifale and Kamlesh Gehlod. ACP Jadhav is said to have credited Inspector Deshmukh and her team with using technical investigation and professional methods to solve the case.

The investigation continues after the arrest. Police have to establish the sequence of events at Raja Sharif's house, test the evidence of the alleged injury and robbery, and determine the extent of the accused's role in the Gaddigodam incident. Elderly people and their families should take basic home security precautions, report suspicious activity promptly and preserve CCTV footage after an incident.