Mumbai: Amidst coronavirus crisis, when the entire nation was under lockdown and all the liquor shops in the country are closed, a 34-year-old man broke into a liquor store in Govandi and fled with 194 bottles of expensive liquor.
Days after the case was registered, Shivajinagar police arrested the accused identified as Shahanawaz alias Shanu alias Mohammad Ahmed Shaikh. According to the police, the store Alishan wines was full of beer crates and other wines however Shaikh only took high-end liquor and fled.
The incident came to light on Monday morning, when the shop owner, Prakash Patil was informed by another shop owner that his shop's rooftop was found to be broken. Patil rushed to the shop and was shocked to see that break-in took place at his wine shop.
"As soon as I learnt about the theft, I called excise officer since they have sealed all the liquor shops amid lockdown. After they arrived, we broke the seal and entered in the shop along with local police. The burglar entered the shop by breaking the rooftop. he also broke the metal grills," said owner Prakash Patil.
"When I checked the stock, I found only expensive liquor was stolen and burglar did not touch the lesser ones. He fled with 194 liquor bottles and took Rs 45,000 from counter," added Patil. The incident was captured on the CCTV camera inside the shop in which Shaikh was seen stealing the liquor bottles.
"Soon after the report, we arrested Shaikh on the available evidence. He was produced before the court which remanded him to police custody till April 14 and further investigation is underway," said Sudarshan Paithankar, senior police inspector of Shivajinagar police station.
