10 May,2017 06:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
After evading Mumbai police for a week, 'unlucky' chain-snatcher gets arrested only after he steps out in in the same lucky blue shirt that he wore during his previous crimes
CCTV footage showed Nagesh Pawar following the victim in his lucky blue shirt, along with his accomplice
Sometimes a lucky charm can bring you the worst luck, as it happened with a south Mumbai chain-snatcher who got arrested in the same lucky shirt he wore during his crimes.
Twenty-eight-year-old Nagesh Pawar, believed that his blue shirt and watch were lucky for him, and indeed, the cops were unable to find any trace of him for a week, not even after a 72-hour stakeout at his regular haunt. Ironically, it was when he donned his lucky shirt for another chain-snatching, that the police finally spotted and nabbed him.
The crime
Varsha Deepak Khambati (62) lives two buildings away from Babulnath Temple, and it was her daily custom to visit the temple during her evening stroll. Usually her husband accompanied her, but on May 1, Varsha ventured out alone.
She made her way back from Kemps Corner around 8.20 pm, when she stopped at the temple to offer prayers and then continued walking towards her building. That's when she felt someone tugging at her gold chain from behind.
She turned around as a man in his late 20s pushed her and snatched her chain. Shocked, Varsha tried to cry out but, by then, the crook had already leapt across the road divider and fled. Scared, Varsha went home and told her husband about the incident, and they registered a case at Gamdevi police station under Section 392 (robbery) of the IPC.
A special team was formed to investigate the case, led by Senior Inspector Netaji Bhople and assistant inspectors Shamrao Patil and Prashant Gawade. "The complainant didn't see the culprit's face, so we had to rely on CCTV footage from the road. When we checked the footage, we found two people following her from the junction," said an officer.
"Before snatching her chain, one of the accused crossed the road, while the man in the blue shirt snatched the chain and then fled towards Chowpatty. It all happened in less than two minutes," the officer added.
The police followed the culprit's movement all the way to P D'Mello Road, where all traces of him disappeared. When the cops took his pictures and investigated there, they discovered that the blue-shirted thief's name was Nagesh Pawar. On further enquiry, they learnt that Pawar would frequent the Wadi Bunder area with a friend.
"We zeroed in on Wadi Bunder on Friday. From Saturday, we started surveillance in the area, but didn't find him. Residents told us that he turned up there every Sunday, without fail. We placed additional manpower there on Sunday, but he still didn't appear," another cop recalled.
Out of the blue
Meanwhile, Nagesh must have believed that his lucky charm had done its job and that he had managed to shake off the police, so he decided to surface again on Monday. Little did he realise that he was pushing his luck by donning the same blue shirt and watch as he prepared to commit another chain-snatching.
"A constable spotted Nagesh in the same shirt and we nabbed him. We also spotted his associate across the road and nabbed him too. We are yet to recover the chain they stole", said another officer.
