Mumbai Crime: 65-year-old man on stealing spree caught by GRP

Dattaram Jagnale

The Government Railway Police (GRP), Andheri, arrested a kleptomaniac senior citizen on Tuesday and recovered stolen goods worth around '1.03 lakh from him. The 65-year-old allegedly stole bags from luggage racks in local trains.

The accused was identified as Dattaram Jagnale, who stays with his family at Budhvihar Link Road in Goregaon West.

On Monday, under the supervision of Senior Inspector Bharat Chaudhary, API Archana Kshirsagar and detection staff Amjad Shaikh, Sanjay Naik and Vinod Ballal were investigating theft cases. Constable Naik received information about the accused and they caught Jagnale when he was roaming with a bag. "During interrogation Jagnale confessed to the crimes and revealed the bag had also been stolen in a train," said a police officer.

"The bag belonged to a student from Maharashtra college. From a cupboard at Jagnale's house, we recovered five to six more bags. We also found a laptop, three tablets, some mobile phones, head phones, data cables, chargers, sun glasses, portable speakers, a Wi-Fi device and wallets, all worth a total R1.03 lakh," the officer added.

Jagnale who is retired, has two sons and a daughter. One of his sons is an air-conditioner seller and the other is a driver. The police said as Jagnale's wife is not well, their sons look after them. They were surprised that he steals.

"We have solved five to six theft cases. Jagnale has been arrested under Section 379 (theft) of IPC and remanded in police custody," said SI Chaudhary from Andheri GRP.
Psychologist Arti Shroff explained Jagnale's behaviour as kleptomania. "Kleptomania is an impulse control disorder where a person feels a strong urge to steal. Usually the items stolen are not of significance to him. The person usually feels a sense of relief and instant gratification after stealing. This is followed by guilt and sadness. One should not label these people as criminals. They require support and understanding of their problem."

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