Mulund resident Dinesh Patel's shop was burgled twice since January, along with a botched attempt in June; he nabbed culprits when they attempted to break in for a fourth time, by maintaining an all-night vigil
When the Navghar police could not help this Mulund resident, he went ahead and conducted his own investigation. Mobile shop owner Dinesh Patel’s outfit, Tokyo Telecom, was burgled twice since January.
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Also read: South Mumbai shop owner recognises robber from CCTV footage, distracts him till cops arrive
Cops arresting the accused after a tip-off from Dinesh Patel (right). Pic/Rajesh Gupta
After the March theft, Patel decided to secure his shop, and later managed to nab the accused. He handed them over to the cops thieves targeted his shop the fourth time (there was a third unsuccessful attempt in June) on June 29.
Brazen attempt
Patel told Mid-Day, “The two accused had already stolen valuables from my shop; in January they had stolen goods worth Rs 1.14 lakh, while in March, they walked away with goods worth Rs 54,000. Since then I have been trying to give utmost security to my shop. I don’t earn enough to install a CCTV or provide a security guard to my shop.”
After March, Patel started taking a couple of rounds during the night, to ensure that his shop wasn’t burgled again. But he had to step up his vigil. “On the night of June 25, the two accused again tried to get inside my shop by breaking the locks, but they weren’t successful. I parked my car near the shop and kept a watch.
The culprits made another attempt on June 29. I noticed on my rounds that a light I had affixed to the shop had switched off. When I went to investigate, I saw the accused trying to break the locks,” said Patel.
He then informed the local police who nabbed the accused the same day. They have been identified as Nasim Khan (19) and Prakash Pasi (19), residents of Mulund and Bhandup respectively.
Cop speak
Senior Police Inspector Ramdas More from Navghar police station confirmed the news and said that the accused were repeat offenders, and they had been targeting Patel's shop since a while. Both accused have been booked under sections 457 (house-trespass or house-breaking by night) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code and have been remanded to police custody till July 6.
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