Maharashtra: Businessman turns burglar after suffering losses due to lockdown; arrested

Photo used for representational purpose

A 45-year-old cloth trader from Solapur allegedly took to committing burglaries and thefts after suffering losses in his business due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, police said on Wednesday.

He was arrested last week in Maharashtra's Solapur city in connection with eight such cases, they said.

The accused, identified as Anand Kodam, a resident of Vajreshwari Nagar in Solapur, located about 400 km from Mumbai, was nabbed on September 2 when he was on way to sell some ornaments allegedly stolen by him, a police official said.

Kodam was earlier into his family's cloth business and they used to run a factory in Solapur, he said.

In 2018, he parted ways with his family due to some reasons and started living separately with his wife and children.

He then started an independent business of sale and purchase of towels, which was running well, the official said.

However, last year, a businessman allegedly cheated him of Rs 8 lakh, due to which he had to take loans and after a few days, had to shut his business in the wake of the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19, he said.

After being unable to repay the loans, Kodam allegedly started committing burglaries since August 1 this year, the official said.

His modus operandi was to commit thefts between 11 am and 2 pm and he used to target houses having cast iron locks which he could be broken easily, said Solapur Jail Road police station's sub-inspector Alfaz Shaikh, who nabbed the accused.

According to the official, Kodam had allegedly committed at least seven house-breakings in the jurisdiction of the Jail Road police limits.

The police examined footage of at least 100 CCTVs in the area, but as the accused wore a mask while committing the offences, it was difficult to identify him.

However, in one of the CCTV footage, he was found without the mask and identified, the official said.

Accordingly, the police laid a trap on September 2 and apprehended him when he was on way to a jewellers' market to sell some of the stolen ornaments, he said.

The official said the accused initially told the police that he had committed only one theft, but later, during questioning, he informed about other six burglaries committed by him in the Jail Road area and one in the MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) area.

The police have so far recovered gold worth Rs 7.60 lakh and Rs 1 lakh cash allegedly stolen by him, he said.

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