Powai Police arrested four people, including the main accused, for stealing valuables, jewellery and cash worth Rs 26.85 lakh. While police only had a blurred photo of the main accused, Ajay Vishwakarma, 24, caught in a CCTV camera for a mere 10 seconds, he was nabbed on the basis of human intelligence and police sources. Subsequently, three others who had purchased the stolen items were nabbed and a recovery of Rs 25 lakh was made.
On July 20, when the complainant, a businessman was asleep, an unidentified thief broke into the fifth floor house in the wee hours of the night and decamped with cash, jewellery and valuables worth Rs 26.85 lakhs. The complainant realised he was duped when his wife woke up in the morning and found the living room's window wide open. The first thing she did was check all the valuables to find that cash and jewellery were missing.
The complainant immediately informed the building's secretary to learn that a similar attempt of theft was made on two of the lower floor houses. Subsequently, a case was lodged and police scrutinised the CCTV camera footage and found a blurry glimpse of a man. Further probe revealed that the unidentified thief had climbed the gas pipeline in heavy rain and strong winds, just like a Spiderman, which spread panic in the neighborhood.
Police activated their network of informers and learned about the accused, Ajay Vishwakarma, a Nalasopara resident and nabbed him on August 12. During interrogation, Vishwakarma confessed of the crime and said he was inebriated at the time of the crime and had come to Powai for a stroll, following which he saw an opportunity to climb the tree and then a gas pipeline for a house break-in.
After the theft, Vishwakarma sold the bounty to three people-- Amjad Khan, 34, Radheshyam Soni, 42, and Mahendra Ghanchi, 30, who were placed under arrest, said police. All the accused were booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for theft, house-break in and remanded in police custody. Powai Police made a recovery of Rs 24.97 lakh from the accused and returned it to the complainant.
