Cyber Cell arrests engineer and technician who started business with designs and drawings stolen from former employer; one absconding

Copycats held

Cyber Cell arrests engineer and technician who started business with designs and drawings stolen from former employer; one absconding

The three stand accused of stealing patented designs of an air plasma cutter tool. Two of the accused were arrested, one of them an engineer and the other a technician. The third person, who is an engineer, was absconding.

Ex-boss files case
The three, Deepak Gayake, Prafulla Kubetkar and Ashmi Sarawade, are former employees of a tool-making company, Plasma Technology Pvt Ltd at Khese Park in Lohgaon.

Arundhati Thomas (46), managing director of the company, filed the complaint in this regard. The three accused were booked under Sections 63 and 69 of the Copyright Act, 1957, and Section 103 of the Information Technology Act for data theft. Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code for cheating was also invoked.

Complainant Thomas stated: "The trio illegally copied the engineering designs of different parts of the air plasma cutter, such as that of the torch of the cutter and other consumables like electrode, nozzle, front cap and swirl, etc. They had allegedly started doing this while working with the company and later manufactured and sold the impersonated product.

"After, all the three left the company about two years ago, they started manufacturing the tool and also started selling it to over 81 companies in India and abroad through their own units but working in tandem."
Thomas had first contacted the Economic Offenses Wing of the police, who directed her to the Cyber Crime Cell.

Solid evidence
Police Inspector (Cyber Crime) Sangita Shinde-Alfonso said, "Both Gayake and Sarawade are engineering graduates while Kubetkar is trained in electrical works from ITI. After we got the information we carried out searches at three places where these three used to work.

We recovered different machines parts from these places. Our experts also retrieved the deleted engineering drawings, which are copies of the patented drawings, from Sarawade's laptop. These will prove to be solid evidence against the three."

The inspector said the police had arrested Kubetkar and Sarawade, while the search for Gayake was on. The two arrested accused were remanded in magisterial custody for 14 days.

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