Mumbai Crime: Ex-employee of Marathi film studio loots owners to recover dues

Accused Sanket Gawali

The Amboli police on Wednesday arrested a 32-year-old former employee of The Red Bulb Studios, owned by Marathi actor Prarthana Behere and her producer-director husband Abhishek Jawkar, for stealing valuables worth Rs 1.40 lakh from the office of the production house in Andheri. During interrogation, the accused claimed that he wanted to recover his pending dues from his ex-employer, but police said that the couple has denied any such allegation.

Lavish life
According to the police, the accused has been identified as Sanket Gawali, a resident of Ahmedanagar, which is also his hometown. He worked for the production house for two years and left the job on December 1, 2017, to start his own business. Police sources also revealed that during his tenure at Red Bulb, he enjoyed a lavish life and stayed at Behera's apartment for free.

On January 23, Sanket came to Mumbai with the motive of looting his ex-employer. In the early hours of the day he went to the studio and was let in by the office boy, who was the only person present at that time. When the attendant went to the washroom, he stole a laptop, camera, lens and a hard disc worth R1.40 lakh and fled from the spot. As he knew the premises well, before committing the crime he had switched off the CCTV cameras. Police are of the opinion that the hard disc was the most valuable thing for the couple, as it contained important and confidential data.

Calls go unanswered
When the couple got to know about the theft, they tried contacting Sanket, but he did not answer the calls. However, when the office boy managed to contact him, he said that he would return the stolen items, but nothing like that happened. The couple then approached the Amboli police station and filed a complaint in the matter. Thereafter, the cops registered an FIR and traced Sanket to a hotel in Belapur.

Following his arrest, all the stolen items were recovered from him. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a police officer said, "The accused has been booked under Section 380 of IPC. After being produced in court, he was sent to judicial custody."

Rs 1.40 lakh
Total value of the booty

Dec 1
The day Sanket Gawali left the job at the studio

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