Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

Kochi, Nov 2: In a serious security lapse, 124 articles, including a Rado wristwatch, kept as case properties have gone missing from the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II in Kerala's Ernakulam district.

The missing articles were properties seized in various criminal cases and kept under the court's custody. The police have registered a case following a complaint lodged by the court's Junior Superintendent.

The theft came to light when the articles kept in the court's custody were found missing. The properties are linked to cases registered and handled between 2016 and 2026. Among the 124 missing items is a Rado wristwatch.

The police have launched an investigation to establish when the articles went missing and how they were removed from the court's custody.

The incident has raised serious concerns over the safety of material evidence kept on court premises. Case properties are articles seized by police during investigations and produced before courts as evidence. They must be preserved until the completion of legal proceedings and dealt with in accordance with court orders.

Such articles can play an important role in establishing facts in criminal cases, and their disappearance could create complications when courts require them for examination or production during trials.

Investigators are expected to examine records relating to the missing articles and the circumstances under which they were kept in the court. They will also seek to determine whether the theft occurred in a single instance or over a period of time.

The incident assumes significance as the missing articles are not ordinary belongings but properties connected with criminal cases pending before or previously handled by the court.

Further details, including the exact nature and value of all the missing articles and the period during which the theft took place, are awaited.