A 25-year-old history-sheeter ran out of luck after officials of the DN Nagar police station arrested him earlier this week from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh
The accused, wanted in several theft cases in the city, was identified as Harishankar Mishra alias Ashwini Kumar alias Anshumani alias Rinku alias Raj. Officials said Mishra would either work as a domestic help in houses or as helper in electronic shops, and after gaining the trust of his employers would make away with gadgets. They said he would flee to Pratapgarh after committing crimes.
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While in DN Nagar, Mishra worked for an electronic store called Text Zone for a month. After gaining trust of the shop owner, he made duplicate keys for the locks and made away with laptops, pen drives and rams worth Rs 3 lakh. Once the DN Nagar police are through with their probe, Mishra would be handed over to Borivli police for further investigation.
Trapped
Based on the passbooks police officials recovered from his residence in Khar Danda, police officials contacted their counterparts in Pratapgarh and laid a trap for Mishra. They sealed all his bank accounts, hoping that cash crunch would force him to come out of hiding. The gamble paid off.
Mishra was nabbed from a local bank in Pratapgarh where he had brought along his friend and told the bank staff that he was a police inspector. API Manish Avle of the DN Nagar police station said Mishra came to Mumbai five years ago with the sole intention of making quick money. Though a Std VIII pass, Mishra forged several CVs mentioning that he was a graduate and an engineer, among others.
Mishra has several cases registered against him at various police stations, including Malabar Hill, Andheri Oshiwara and Borivli. While he worked as a domestic help in Malabar Hill and Borivli, at other locations he worked as a helper in electronic stores. “For every new target, Mishra used a different SIM card. He loves electronic items. We are now tracking those locations where he sold the loot.”u00a0