Employees at the Borivli branch of the famed Merwans Cake Shop siphoned off thousands in cash from the counter, passed it to accomplices posing as customers
Last Thursday, the Borivli police arrested six employees of Merwans Cake Shop on LT Road, along with two ‘customers’, for conducting fraud and steeling cash amounting to at least Rs 60,000.
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The Borivli West branch of Merwans
Their modus operandi: Two from the group would enter the shop posing as customers, while the one at the cash counter would siphon off cash, and pass it on to them with their purchase order.
The main accused, identified as Ritesh Mishra, 22, used to work at Merwans, Andheri branch, and moved to this branch six months ago. Other accused have been identified as Sachin Surwade, 21, Arun Talekar, 22, Vishal Kopore, 21. All are residents of Mira Road and Bhayander. They teamed up with Shubham Giri and Jignesh Rathod, who posed as customers. Based on the statements of the arrested accused, two unknown suspects are still wanted in the case.
Crafting the plan
It all started three to four months ago. According to the police, Giri and Rathod would visit the shop to order pastries when they knew that their accomplices were on shift. When they would go to the cash counter to make their payment, they would be handed between R1,000 and R3,000, along with their order. Later, they would meet at a decided spot and divide the loot among themselves.
Last Thursday, the owner of the shop realised that money had been going missing regularly from the cash counter. He checked the store’s CCTV footage and learnt of the thefts. A case was filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 381 and 34. A police inspector, said, “Yesterday, they were produced in the Holiday court. All six accused were remanded to police custody till Monday.
We are hunting for two more suspects.”
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