Mumbai Crime: Man robs houses of people on holiday, arrested

Recce is mostly done in the evening to keep an eye on flats with all lights switched off. Illustration/Uday Mohite

The Malwani police have arrested a burglar, who targeted homes that were vacant during the summer holidays. The accused on March 28 robbed three houses in Malwani area and stole valuables worth Rs 5.50 lakh, the police said.

According to police, the accused is involved in dozens of cases across the city and in the past one-and-a-half months he had broken into five to six homes. The accused used to break open the door in just 3-5 seconds and robbed the entire house in less than 5-10 minutes.

The accused, Abdul Razzak Munaf Ansari, 27, is a resident of Laxmi Nagar at Malwani, Malad West. The accused committed three house robberies in just 1 hour at Malwani. Police said the accused conducted a recce of the buildings where there were no watchmen and no CCTV cameras installed. When he found the lights of the house switched off for two-three days, he attempted robbery late in the night.

Three robberies

The incident occurred in the Malwani area where three different society members had gone to villages in Gujarat, Karnataka and Kolhapur respectively. The accused used a latch-cutter to break into the house. Besides the recce, the accused posed as an acquaintance and asked neighbours about the target's whereabouts.

Investigation officer PSI Hasan Mulani said, "Ansari is a habitual offender and he was arrested earlier by many police stations. On March 28, he robbed three houses in Malwani and looted around R5.50 lakh worth gold ornaments, cash and other valuables."

"On checking the footage of the main road CCTV camera, we found a man who went inside the building with an empty bag, but while returning he carried a heavy bag. We followed 50-60 CCTV cameras and nabbed him. We also recovered the stolen ornaments and valuables," Mulani said.