The Bhoiwada police have arrested a contract worker for committing a series of thefts in Ashok Towers, a high-rise in Lalbaug, over the last six months while working in a flat there
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The Bhoiwada police have arrested a contract worker for committing a series of thefts in Ashok Towers, a high-rise in Lalbaug, over the last six months while working in a flat there.
The accused, Bharat Suthar (29), was hired by a seventh floor resident for interior work in July 2016. While the work was going on, he was staying in the same house, the police said.
Targeting empty flats
He did a recce of the empty flats in the building, and also made inquiries with the newspaper vendor and milkman to confirm the same. He would allegedly enter the flats through the bathroom windows. He committed three burglaries - in flats in fourth, sixth and eighth floors, with his last attempt netting him Rs 80 lakh worth gold jewellery, silver ornaments and cash. The total worth of valuables stolen by him is more than Rs 1 crore, an officer said.
Investigation trail
The police received the first complaint in August. They scanned all CCTV cameras on the premises and inquired with several employed in the society but found nothing. The next complaint came in November, but then too they failed to get any clues.
In February 2017, after the third complaint was lodged, police found out that Suthar had developed his property in Rajasthan recently. They also came to know that after the February theft, he had flown to Rajasthan and returned to Mumbai the same day. They detained him, and he allegedly confessed to the crime during interrogation.
An officer said, "He stole more than '1 crore worth valuables and spent it on developing his property back home."