CHENNAI: Investigators probing the curious case of 16 rabbits that a research assistant reported missing on Tuesday from a Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Tanuvas) laboratory in Kattupakkam near Guduvancherry on Friday said they had security camera footage of the thieves making away with the animals.Police said a security camera near the enclosure had captured two juveniles as they stealthily filched 11 Russian Chinchilla rabbits and five New Zealand white rabbits from the research lab. They will use the footage to identify the thieves."The culprits walked into the research unit and pulled the rabbits out of their unlocked enclosures," an investigating officer said. "There may have been someone else involved who sent the juveniles to steal the animals and took them from the thieves."He said the thieves, who to ok away the rabbits in a sack, could also have sold the ani mals for their meat or for resale in the gray market."The two thieves took some time to select fully-grown rabbits , the largest in the enclosure," the officer said."They may have been involved in similar thefts earlier, perhaps the stealing of pet animals whose owners did not contact police."After the research assistant reported that the rabbits were missing, the head of the institution, Prof H Gopi, lodged a complaint with the Guduvancherry police. Tanuvas had acquired the stolen rabbits a couple of years ago.

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