Malad police play ‘lovers’, hawkers to crack theft case

The team that cracked the case and nabbed the robbers

The Malad police wore several hats for seven days to nab five men who had stolen valuables worth Rs 18 lakh from a retired teacher's home last month. The cops became auto drivers, hawkers and even ‘lovers' in Ghatkopar, Navi Mumbai, Mumbra, Govandi, and Malwani for the operation. Each accused faces about 30 cases, while one of them used to buy stolen goods from other robbers, said the police.

The police have identified the robbers as Naushad Khan, 31, Saddam Khan, 34, Abdul Pathan, alias Takla, 40, Rony, alias Altaf Fernandez, 35, and Guddu Soni, 35. The history-sheeters formed a gang after they met in jail. They would target houses in unsecured societies without watchmen or CCTV surveillance, said the cops.

The latest police action came on a complaint by Malad resident Nita Shah. She told the cops that January 31 was her 60th birthday and she visited Mahalaxmi temple with family and friends and they all had dinner outside. Shah stays alone as her two daughters are married and they live with their families. On her return, Shah found the house ransacked and gold jewellery missing. The thieves had even taken away the TV set.

As they scanned the footage of CCTVs installed in the locality, the police found a taxi making rounds of the area. They tracked down the taxi driver and found that his son, Naushad Khan, had been arrested a few times for theft and robbery. Naushad told them that his accomplices were involved in the crime.

Operation to nab the cabbie

After the taxi raised their suspicion, a team guided by senior PI D Ligade traced the vehicle to Ghatkopar. "Our officers began monitoring the taxi by posing as auto drivers and hawkers with hand carts," said an officer.

"We caught the taxi driver from Sanpada. For that PSI Minakshi Kagalakar and constable Kailash Abhang posed as girlfriend and boyfriend and roamed in an auto driven by constable Basaveshwar Chungi Wadiyar," said another officer. API Sameer Mujawar, PSI Nagesh Bansode and Deepak Hinde trailed Naushad Khan in plainclothes. Khan led them to three other accused.

"Soni, the fifth accused, was arrested from Ghatkopar. He had bought the stolen jewellery from the accused. We found that Soni has more than 29 cases against him. The Ghatkopar police had externed him from entering their jurisdiction," added the officer.

"We have arrested the five for theft and recovered the robbed booty worth R16 lakh," said DCP Vishal Thakur. The five have been remanded in police custody till February 14.

14 Feb
Date till when accused is in police custody