Zone one of the Crime Branch of Navi Mumbai police arrested a 45-year-old from Kalwa in Thane and claimed to have solved at least 20 cases of housebreaking that were committed under the Rabale police jurisdiction in the last two years. The police also recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 28.32 lakh.
A housebreaking case was registered on August 26 at Rabale police station after gold jewellery worth Rs 10.85 lakh was stolen from a house in sector 3 in Airoli on August 28 night. Similarly, housebreaking was reported on July 9. While investigating both cases simultaneously, the Rabale police gathered CCTV footage of all private and government establishments.
“A team worked for around seven days on CCTV footage of both cases. With the technical help, the team zeroed in on the accused,” said a senior official from the crime branch. He added that they searched the contact number of the accused and found that he was in the Kalwa area.
The team laid a trap and caught the accused on September 7 from Kalwa Bridge in Thane. The accused was identified as Santosh Tranbak Ghanghaw, a resident of Kholi number 37, Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar in Kalwa in Thane.
The police got 10 days of custody and during interrogation, the police came to know that he committed around 20 housebreaking crimes in Rabale and Koparkhairane police station areas. Of the 20 house breakings, 12 were committed in 2022 and 8 crimes in 2021.
The police recovered 602 grams of gold jewellery worth Rs 28.32 lakhs from him. In the past, the accused was booked and arrested in 14 cases committed in Panvel, Rabale, Taloja, Kalamboli, and Koparkhairane.
