He stole, mostly high-end, phones but a smart phone, or free messaging application WhatsApp, did him in.

Twenty-three-year-old Danish had sneaked into a house in Hanoon Nagar on October 5 and fled with a high-end mobile he found in the drawing room. A month later smart use of WhatsApp by Aijaz, whose phone Danish had stolen, helped nab the latter.

When Danish, a resident of Lal Miya Dargah area, around 5km from Hanoon Nagar, had pocketed the mobile in Aijaz’s drawing room — while the family was in an inside room — he was unaware that his intrusion had been captured by a CCTV camera at the main gate of the house.

An officer at the Phulwarisharif police station said: “When Aijaz realised his mobile was missing, he checked CCTV recordings and found Danish picking up his phone. He handed us the CCTV feed. We began investigating but were not unable to identify the thief.”

Aijaz, a businessman, was not giving up. He had an idea. “He captured some pictures of Danish from the CCTV on another mobile of his and WhatsApped (sent it as a message) it to people he knew, mostly those living in the locality.

Residents now had the picture of the thief and were told to keep an eye for him.

The breakthrough came on Sunday evening, almost a month after the theft.

Danish had surfaced on another street in Haroon Nagar area, wearing the same T-shirt and riding the same two-wheeler he had used when committing the earlier theft. He was out on a recce, scouting for a house to sneak into. At that very moment, Sajid, a middle-aged resident there, spotted him and found his activities suspicious. He approached Danish and asked him why he was moving around aimlessly,” Patna SSP Jitender Rana told The Telegraph.

While engaging Danish in a conversation, Sajid felt he had seen him somewhere. He suddenly recalled the image Aijaz had WhatsApped him.

“As a crowd gathered around them, Sajid matched the picture on his phone with Danish and was convinced he was the thief. Later, Danish confessed to having stolen Aijaz’s mobile. The police were called and he has been taken into custody. We will reward Sajid for his quick thinking and action,” the SSP said.