Mumbai: Police nab intoxicated robber, wait 4 days for confession

Mumbai: In a recent detection that had even the police amused, a 22-year-old man was arrested for allegedly burgling a house in Trombay, but was so intoxicated at the time of his arrest that the cops had to wait a good four days before they could even begin interrogating him. Despite everything, however, the police managed to recover almost all of the stolen valuables, worth close to Rs two lakh.

According to the Trombay police, Moreshwar Koli, 39, a resident of the Trombay Koliwada, returned home after a walk in the early hours of July 17 to see the accused, Harsh Waghmare, in his house.

“When Koli returned after his walk, he saw his main door was open. When he went inside, he saw Waghmare standing in front of his cupboard, which was open. Waghmare had a bag in his hand and an iron rod, which he had used to break open the cupboard. Koli asked Waghmare what he was doing in his house at that hour and Waghmare just pushed him to the ground and fled the scene,” said police sub inspector Sharad Nanekar, Trombay police station.

Koli found that gold and silver jewllery worth Rs 1.9 lakh was missing from his house and subsequently registered a complaint with the Trombay police. As Koli already knew Waghmare, identifying him was not the issue. The challenge, however, was to trace and apprehend him. The police then obtained stills of Waghmare's face from CCTV footage, and circulated them among local informants, asking them to keep an eye out for him. At the same time, the police visited his residence at the Patra Chawl in Trombay Koliwada, but he was nowhere to be found.

Finally, after four days of consistent efforts, the police received a tip off on July 22 that Waghmare was about to take a train from the Bandra Terminus and flee the city. A police team rushed to the station and nabbed Waghmare in the nick of time. Waghmare, however, was completely under the influence of narcotics and unable to even talk properly.

For the next four days, the police mounted a silent but frustrated vigil as they waited first for the intoxication to wear off and then for Waghmare to recover from the after-effects what seemed to have been a rather potent trip. Waghmare was unable to utter a single coherent word during this time. Finally, on July 26, the police felt confident enough to start properly interrogating him. To their relief, however, Waghmare didn't give them much trouble.

"Waghmare readily gave a confession, saying that he was in dire need of money due to unemployment, and told us the exact spot where he had hidden the stolen valuables. We rushed to the Mariamma Temple near the Trombay Jetty and started digging behind the temple till we found the gold and silver jewellery that he had stolen. We recovered jewellery worth Rs 1.6 lakhs from the spot," said Nanekar.

The police have booked Waghmare for house trespass and burglary uner the Indian Penal Code.