Two Dundee students have been left without vital coursework and lecture notes after their laptops were stolen during twin raids on their shared flat.
Taj Ul Islam (26) and flatmate Abdul Hi (20) both had their laptops stolen in the course of two break-ins in less than 48 hours at their home in Dens Road at the weekend.
Abertay University postgraduate Taj said he would have to ask for extensions from his course tutors after losing months of coursework that had been saved on to his Acer laptop.
He had backed up the files on a memory stick but that was also stolen in a raid on Friday night.
Abdul, a Dundee College student, had his HP laptop taken in a second raid on the property on Sunday night in which the intruder fled after being disturbed.
Taj said the initial raid had been discovered by house-guest Robin Sanaullah when he arrived at the flat late on Friday evening to find the property had been ransacked.
Clothes had been ripped out from wardrobes and strewn around and pieces of paper on which university notes had been written had been scrunched up and thrown into the bath.
Taj said, “My friend was first at the house and the lock of the main door was broken. He entered the house and found everything was messed up and noticed that a laptop was gone.
“He phoned me and told me to come home and I rushed back and I found my laptop, iPhone and digital camera were gone.”Forensic examinationOfficers arrived and took statements and scenes of crime officers attended in the morning to carry out a forensic examination.
Just over 24 hours later, police were back at the flat after a second raid in which the kitchen window lock was broken.
Robin was again at the property when he came across a man in the flat. Fearing for his safety, Robin fled and the intruder also made off.
Taj said, “He (Robin) came round about 10pm and opened the door and everything seemed fine. He entered the house and found the central heating was on and the lights were on.
“He was going to one of the rooms when someone opened the door and came into the corridor and asked my friend ‘what are you doing here.'”
He added, “My friend was scared and he ran away because the guy had something in his hand.”
The intruder, who got away with a modem and MP4 player among other items, ran away across neighbours’ gardens before he re-emerged in Dens Road and made off.
He is described as being aged between 30 and 35 and was wearing a white top and black trousers.
Police appealed for anyone with information about either of the raids to come forward. Anyone with information should contact the police on 0300 11122222 or speak to any officer.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user BotheredByBees.