Mumbai Crime: 20-year-old held for breaking into policemen's homes

Kamaljit Singh

GTB Nagar resident Kamaljit Singh's, 20, obsession with stealing from policemen's homes has landed him behind bars. In the latest, he was arrested last week after three constables chased him down after he committed a series of break-ins in the police quarters at Kalachowkie.

Not under lock and key
Narrating the incident, Dilip Ugle, senior inspector of Kalachowkie police station said, "Singh broke into the house of two police constables in the wee hours of Wednesday. One of them was Vijay Bane, from whose house he stole 60 grams of gold and Rs 2,800 cash. After Bane's home, he sneaked into the ground-floor home of constable Ragini Jagdale. Since he couldn't find anything there, he just got out and started walking."

However, while he was breaking Jagdale's lock, a neighbour saw him and called EOW constable Yashwant Rasam, who resides on the third floor. While he was coming down, his brother Vijay, who resides on the second floor, sensed something suspicious and began walking down, too.

Yashwant said, "Vijay told me he'd seen a man in a blue shirt and joined me in looking for him. Meanwhile, Santosh Adivarekar, another constable, woke up and joined us. We ran behind the man [Singh] without wasting any time." Singh was later found on the skywalk of Cotton Green railway station and brought to the Kalachowkie police station. Singh was handed over to the Wadala police on June 9, as he was wanted for stealing R59,000 from a businessman's home in that suburb.

Suspect in two more cases
Parshuram Karykarte, senior inspector, Wadala police station told mid-day, "We have arrested the accused and he's a suspect in two more such crimes. At such a small age, he has committed several offences across the city." He will be in Wadala police's custody till June 14.

According to the police, Singh targeted cops' homes under the assumption that there would be no security there and even residents feel nobody will break in because it is a police quarters. Sources also revealed that he may have targeted over 15 policemen's homes. Meanwhile, cops have found out that his sister Gurupreet Kaur is a drug dealer.

Avinash Singte, senior inspector at Byculla police station, said Singh was previously arrested in August 2017 for stealing a service pistol and 30 rounds of ammunition from the house of a police constable in Byculla. He got bail in January and has since been involved in six house break-ins since.

Also read: Mumbai Crime: Stalker caught after he breaks into teen girl's home

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates