Mumbai: Five record criminals held for house break-in at elderly's house in Malad

The Malad Police arrested five robbers for house break in and theft charges after they broke into the house of a senior citizen in Malad. The accused had decamped with a 32 inch TV, jewellery and cash collectively valued at ₹21 lakh. Based on evidence, police nabbed the history sheeters by going undercover from various parts of the city and have recovered the valuables worth ₹16.6 lakh from the accused.

According to police sources, the incident occurred on January 31, when the senior citizen had gone out for a pilgrimage visit on occasion of her birthday and when she returned home at night, she was shocked to find the cupboards ransacked and diamond, pearl jewellery, cash and a 32-inch television missing. She immediately approached Malad Police and lodged a complaint, acting on which a case was registered.

Police teams were formed and based on information gathered during probe from the CCTV footage, it was revealed that the accused had come from Bhiwandi in a taxi, the number of which was unclear but it has some striking features. Police traced the taxi driver, Naushad Shoaib Shaikh, 31, who had used his father's taxi, was picked up for interrogation after keeping a close eye on his movements and subsequently arrested after his role in the offence was surfaced.

Police then sought information on his accomplices, who are all history sheeters, by making Naushad make calls to them and learning their locations. To nab these accused, the police went undercover and posed as a couple, a waiter and an autorickshaw driver.

Subsequently, after keeping a close eye on the movements of the co-accused, Malad Police arrested Saddam Khan, Abdul Pathan and Ronny Fernandes, separately. Police also nabbed a Ghatkopar based man, Guddu Soni, who had purchased the stolen diamond jewellery from the gang. Probe has revealed that the arrested accused had befriended each other in a prison and started looting people.

Malad Police have recovered the taxi, stolen television set and diamond jewellery worth ₹16.6 lakh from the accused. All of them have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. They were produced in a local magistrate court and remanded in police custody till February 14.

Published on: Thursday, February 10, 2022, 10:52 PM IST