Kottayam: Three final-year medical students of Kottayam Medical College in Kerala were in for a rude shock when they realised that their electronic devices worth around ₹2.8 lakh had been stolen. The students, who were preparing for NEET PG exams, stored their notes on devices. While their initial pleas with the cops to file a case went unheeded, they tried their own way by tracking the devices.

Eventually the police filed an FIR and now they are helping the cops retrieve the devices using location tracking apps. The theft happened from their hostel rooms on Wednesday. The missing items include two tablets and a laptop, which the students say contain crucial notes and study materials collected over the past four years. “We have no backups. Getting them back is essential to prepare for the exams,” said Thomas Cyriac, one of the affected students.

The stolen devices belong to Thomas Cyriac, Gautham Krishna (both from Kottayam), and Raiphel AJ (from Kochi). The theft is believed to have taken place between 8.30 am and 11.30 am from the House Surgeons’ Men’s Quarters, located near the hospital casualty. All three were on duty at the time. The students live in adjacent rooms on the hostel’s first floor, where the devices were kept on tables near the doors.

The stolen items include: a Samsung tablet worth ₹50,000 from Room No. 9 (Gautham), A One Plus tablet worth ₹30,000 from Room No. 7 (Raiphel), and an MSI laptop worth ₹2 lakh from Room No. 6 (Thomas).

CCTV footage from outside the hostel showed a masked middle-aged man leaving the building with a large bag. "There are no cameras inside the hostel, and the one at the entrance was installed only last year following a two-wheeler theft. We never locked our doors as such incidents were unheard of. There is no security staff either—the hostel is entirely student-managed,” said Thomas.

After Gautham discovered his tablet was missing, the others checked and realised their devices were also gone. They initially approached the Gandhinagar police, who were reluctant to act promptly. “Had they responded earlier, they could’ve intercepted the culprit before the train left Kerala,” said Thomas.

Using the Samsung Find app, the students tracked Gautham’s device, which first showed a location near the Kottayam Railway Station around 12.30 pm. Based on this, they suspected the thief boarded the Kollam–Tirupati Express (Train No. 17422). The device's location was later traced along the route through Aluva, Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, and finally Chennai.

However, the students faced challenges in tracking continuously as the tablets lacked SIM cards, and the app relied on nearby Samsung devices with internet access. "We checked Google’s Find My Device feature. But it couldn’t help either," said Thomas.

Despite repeated follow-ups, an FIR was only registered the next morning under Sections 331(1) (house-trespass/ house-breaking) and 305 (theft committed in specific locations) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The students also submitted a complaint to the Superintendent of Police (SP)'s office, prompting a team led by Sub Inspector Prasanth from the Gandhinagar station to leave for Chennai on Thursday and arrive Friday morning.

“We were continuously updating the police with live location details, but they initially believed only we could access the Samsung Find app. Later, they realised they could use it too, though they struggled with the technology,” said Thomas.

The last tracked location, received on Friday at 4.40 pm, showed the device at Deen Mobiles, a service centre in Chennai. However, police said they couldn’t find the device there.

The Gandhinagar Station House Officer confirmed the investigation is ongoing, and efforts are being made to recover the devices.