Chembur robbery: Man taking care of cancer patient runs away with valuables worth Rs 1.45 lakh

The caretaker stole the jewellery and cash while the patient’s wife was asleep. Representation pic

A 27-year-old caretaker's love for premium liquor has landed him in police custody. Govandi cops arrested him when he was enjoying some booze at a Thane hotel after stealing cash and jewellery worth Rs 1.45 lakh from the house of a cancer patient, who he was looking after. Investigation has revealed that he was appointed through a company that did not conduct his background check.

On December 19, 56-year-old Geeta Punjabi, a resident of Chembur East, filed a theft complaint with the Govandi police. She mentioned that the caretaker had run away with cash and jewellery. During investigation the police found that accused Vaibhav Pande was appointed through India Health Care Pvt Ltd on a salary of Rs 15,000 a month. He was taking care of Geeta's husband Bhajanlal Punjabi, who is a cancer patient.

"Bhajanlal needed help with daily chores. The family approached an agency that provides maids and caretakers," said an officer from Govandi police station. On December 18, Geeta went off to sleep around 12.30 am and Pande was in Bhajanlal's room. When she woke up around 4.30 am, Pande told her that his friend had met with an accident and he needed to rush to the hospital. Geeta asked Pande to return at the earliest possible.

After Pande left, she went to Bhajanlal's room and found the wooden cupboard, which had some cash and jewellery, open. When she tried calling Pande, his number was switched off. That is when she realised what had happened and immediately informed the Govandi police about it. During inquiry it was found that Pande took gold jewellery worth Rs 1.27 lakh and Rs 15,000 cash. "As soon as we received the information, we called the agency through which he was appointed. Pande's address, which they had in the system, was a fake one. We immediately activated our informers and started tracking the accused," said Inspector Nanasaheb Koyande.

On December 20 the Govandi cops got a tip off that Pande was hiding in a five-star hotel in Thane. Cops immediately rushed to the hotel and arrested him. He was booked under IPC section 381 (theft by servant). He was found at the hotel in an inebriated condition. While at the hotel, he switched on his phone and made some calls when the cops tracked him. Probe has revealed that Pande was earlier arrested by the Rabodi police in a theft case. After spending months in jail, he got bail and registered himself with the agency and got the job at Chembur. He will be kept in police custody till December 24.

Rs 1.45L
Worth of the jewellery and cash that the caretaker stole