Police arrest man who stole jewellery, cash worth Rs. 1.26 crore in Lokhandwala

Singh claims in the FIR that her 53-year-old son along with his family went to Goa on December 27.

The Oshiwara police have arrested a 40-year-old man from Virar and recovered gold ornaments worth Rs. 1.26 crore from him. The accused had allegedly stolen gold ornaments and cash worth Rs. 1.37 crore from a bungalow in Lokhandwala, Andheri (west) when the family had gone to celebrate new year in Goa. During interrogation, police learnt that the accused had committed several offences in the city and police found his involvement in more than 10 cases.

According to the police, the complainant, Krishnakumari Singh, 82, lives in a bungalow at 2nd cross road in Lokhandwala, Andheri (west) along with her son, daughter-in-law and two grand daughters. The bungalow is a ground plus two floors structure and on the ground floor there is a lobby, kitchen and dining area, while on the first floor there are four bedrooms and on the second floor there is one room, library and store room.

The accused entered the house through the bathroom and stole the gold ornaments and cash from the bedrooms on the first floor. The incident came to light when the complainant got up at 7:30 am and spotted the bathroom window open, a police officer said. She then informed the house help who checked the entire house and found that the window of the library on the second floor was broken. Valuables were missing from the bedrooms of the first floor, he added.

Initially, FIR was registered about the valuables of Rs. 45 lakh, but when the family came from Goa and reviewed the valuables lost, they found that they had lost more than a crore’s worth. More precisely, gold, diamond jewelry and cash worth Rs. 1.37 crore, senior inspector Sanjay Chavan of the Oshiwara police station said. The police team was formed based on technical evidence and the accused was located in Virar and brought for interrogation. During interrogation he allegedly confessed to the crime. Police recovered all the valuables worth Rs. 1.26 crore from the accused. The interrogation of the accused is still ongoing and his involvement is being probed in other cases also, said Chavan. “We are not revealing his name as other suspects are wanted in the case and police are trying to trace them”, added the official.