When it fell off a tree in the new footpath garden at Thane, one of them took it home; police arrested them for theft
The police with the artificial butterfly they recovered from the two who stole it
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Stealing an artificial butterfly from a garden to decorate one of their houses, has landed a duo behind the bars. The duo from Thane were taking selfies with the butterfly when it broke free from a tree, and unable to fix it, one of them took it home. Chitalsar police who received a complaint from a Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) engineer, formed a team and traced and arrested the accused within two days on Sunday, for stealing the butterfly worth Rs 15,000.
Part of new garden
The TMC had on April 10 inaugurated a footpath garden, as part of a beautification project undertaken by it in its road widening plan. A stretch of about 1-km at Pokhran Road 2 was beautified with art works on birds and animals, and benches were installed for people to enjoy the garden. But on April 12 when children went to the spot, they were highly disappointed on seeing the trees with just one of two butterflies. The Chitalsar police brought a smile back to their faces after a team under the guidance of Sr PI Ganpat Pingale brought the butterfly back.
The duo who stole it were identified as Nihal Singh, 24, and Govind Chauhan, 22, and are residents of Wagle estate. According to police, the duo went to the garden around 1:30 am on Thursday. They were clicking photographs with the butterfly when it broke off the tree it was attached to. They tried to fix it but when they could not do it, they fled with it. Police said one of them decided to use it to decorate his house. They were charged with Section 379 (theft) of IPC.
Police speak
SPI Ganpat Pingle said, "We received a complaint from a TMC official and immediately formed a team to track and arrest the accused. We didn't have CCTV footage or any clue because the theft happened around 1:30 am and no other people were around. So with the help of CCTV footage from nearby hosing societies, we found the accuseds' bike number and arrested them, and also recovered the butterfly."
Also read: Do your bit for the ecosystem by planting a butterfly garden in Mumbai
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