Mumbai: 6am-8am gang new headache for police

A screen grab of CCTV footage in which the gang of four is seen at Bhoiwada

Two women, a boy and a girl are behind a wave of thefts that occurred between Dadar and Byculla over the past few weeks, the police have said. The unlikely gang used to target households that left doors ajar between 6 am and 8 am for milkmen and newspaper delivery boys. The Dadar police on Monday night arrested a woman, believed the gang leader.

The police said the gang comprises a woman in her mid-thirties, a girl of 18-20, a 10-year-old boy and a girl who is 10 to 12 years old. They mostly struck at chawls and societies without security guards.

An officer said a lot of people keep their doors open in the morning as they wait for milk and newspaper vendors and garbage collectors. "The gang would take advantage of that and sneak inside when the family members are busy sleeping or in the other room. Within seconds, they would flee with mobile phones, cash, gold or any other valuable that came their way," said an officer.

So far in this month, sources said, the police registered more than a dozen cases of morning thefts at Dadar, Prabhadevi, Bhoiwada, RAK Marg, Lalbaug and Kalachowki. The cops recovered the images of the gang members from footage from CCTV cameras and shared them with others.

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The gang recently struck at the home of Anil Sudam Sawant, who lives at BDD Chawl, Naigaon. "A few days ago, the gang stole three mobile phones and my wife's bag with a gold chain and earrings from our home. We rushed to the Bhoiwada police station and filed a case."

Sawant said he later learnt about the gang from his neighbours. "Mobile phones went missing from many households but they didn't complain as they thought they had misplaced the devices. We also circulated their images on social media to spread awareness," he said.

Vishal Deore of Bhoiwada police station said they registered a case following Sawant's complaint. "We have formed a team to nab this gang. We are also checking the footage from CCTV cameras of the area."

On October 9, police sources said, the same targeted a flat on the second floor of Jayant Apartment at Prabhadevi. None had any footwear. They entered the flat and fled away with a mobile phone worth Rs 75,000.

Senior Inspector Mahesh Mugatrao of Dadar police station said, "We nabbed one of the gang members from Dadar railway bridge on Monday night. We are in search of the others. They stole from a flat at Prabhadevi a few days back. We took the help of CCTV footage to make the arrest. We urge citizens to stay alert."