Trio who robbed temples, 'stole from God' arrested

A screengrab of the CCTV footage.

"Jo sab se leta hai, hum us se lete hai," (We take from him, who takes from everyone) was the reason given by one of the three accused who were recently arrested by the Kasturba Marg police for stealing donation boxes from temples, mosques and dargahs in Mumbai. According to the police, the accused have been identified as Murtuza Husain Shaikh, his son Aqueeb Murtuza Shaikh, 21, and Yaseen Khan, 21.

Police said Murtuza also prayed at the temples and mosques, asking for forgiveness, before committing the crime. Police constantly monitored CCTV footage in Borivli (East) to investigate the burglary at Sai Baba Temple, and also CCTV footage from Dahisar toll naka.

The accused stole autorickshaws to commit the crime.

Auto drivers and thieves
According to the police, the accused would rob donation boxes only on Monday or Tuesday, as there would be more money since a lot of people visit temples on weekends. For every burglary, they stole an autorickshaw, and after stealing the donation box, they fled in the stolen auto and later transferred the donation box into their own auto.

Three burglary incidents were reported in the past couple of months in temples in Kandivli, Borivli (East) and Dahisar. When police were investigating the Sai Baba temple robbery, the police checked CCTV footage in the area as well as from the Dahisar. They saw a suspicious autorickshaw at the toll plaza after every burglary. It had ‘Kalu Bai Prasann' written on it.

The police said the accused has committed similar crimes in the past.

"We traced the autorickshaw last week after we matched the CCTV footage of the suspects with the accused. While interrogating, they confessed to the crimes," a police officer from Kasturba Marg police station said.

The police said Murtuza has committed similar crimes in the past. He was an autorickshaw driver and moved into a new house at Nalasopara a few of years ago with his family. Aqueeb also drives an autorickshaw.

Targeting temples, mosques
"We have solved the three burglaries in the three temples. When we asked why they were stealing the donation boxes from temples, the master mind and main accused Murtuza said, "Jo sab se leta hai, hum us se lete hai". (We take from him who takes from everyone)", the officer said.

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