Student thwarts robbery by updating Facebook status

A student has thwarted a robbery in his house not by dialing the cops or confronting the robbers but by updating his Facebook status message.

According to media reports, Nitesh Bhakta, a student at the University of Georgia, said he was studying in his room when he heard his grandmother scream.

He opened his bedroom door and saw three masked men at the front door.

Instead of rushing to be by his grandmother, Bhakta reportedly fled to an attic with his Dell laptop while the men smashed through the door downstairs.

While the robbers held his 65-year-old grandmother and 17-year-old sister on gunpoint, Bhakta updated his Facebook status with: "HELP, ROBBERS, NO PHONE”.

While many of his Facebook friends thought he was joking, best friend John Salter took him seriously and called police.

Meanwhile, the robbers gagged Bhakta’s grandmother and sister and began demanding gold and other valuables.

But Salter's 911 call sent officers racing to Bhakta’s house and their sirens forced the three robbers to abandon the theft and run.

One of them was caught and the other two left their cellphones behind. Police say they may be arrested soon.

Bhakta says he couldn’t believe Facebook could help thwart a robbery.

"I don't think Facebook is really meant as a lifesaving tool, but it's the only way I could think of contacting someone immediately to call for help," UK’s Daily Mail quoted him as saying.