29 November,2014 07:30 AM IST | | Sagar Rajput
The boys, 10 and 12-years-old, would arrive with their grandmother from Rajasthan and head straight for a wedding where they would mingle with guests and even click pictures with the bride and groom before stealing
Two minors, a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old, were arrested on Thursday for acting as guests and sneaking into marriage halls, and fleeing with cash envelopes given as gifts to the bride and groom. The police said that the two boys were caught red-handed by a hall's staff at Dadar after the manager saw them inside the premises.
Senior Police Inspector Parshuram Kakad from Shivaji Park police station said, "We have found their involvement in two more such cases at the same hall. The boys came to Mumbai from their hometown in Rajasthan and then went to the marriage hall right away to steal gift envelopes."
The police recovered 15 envelopes from the minors, of which five envelopes consisted of R100 and the remaining 10 envelopes consisted of Rs 50. API Sunil Khatavkar said, "In total, we have recovered R1,000 from the two minors. We are trying to track down their grandmother under whose guidance they were pushed into stealing.
We have learnt that after arriving in the city, the two along with their grandmother would select a random marriage hall where they stole the envelopes." The police said while investigating the two similar theft cases that took place in the same wedding hall some time back, they had gone through the CCTV footage and had the minors' images in their minds. This time, the hall staff managed to catch the children.
Modus operandi
Khatavkar added, "The minors would dress well and roam near the stage and speak to the couple and even click pictures with them. As soon as they got the opportunity, they would steal the envelopes and escape. Their grandmother fled the hall premises. The minors are not able to tell their exact address or even the mobile number of their care taker."
The two accused have been booked under sections 380 (theft in dwelling, house, etc) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC and they were produced in Juvenile Court and have been sent to a children's home.
