06 March,2017 12:23 PM IST | | Anurag Kamble
South Mumbai was hit by three separate break-ins in a space of just eight hours last week, when a total of Rs 65.5 lakh was looted. What's worse, the police have got no leads in any of the cases
Jewellery was stolen from a family at Shangrila building opposite Colaba post office. Pics/Bipin Kokate
South Mumbai was hit by three separate break-ins in a space of just eight hours last week, when a total of Rs 65.5 lakh was looted. What's worse, the police have got no leads in any of the cases, putting a question mark on the law and order situation in the island city.
In the first incident, Colaba resident Kawal Pannu found that gold and diamond jewellery and luxury watches (worth Rs 30.6 lakh in total) had been pilfered from their daughter's room in Shangrila building, opposite the Colaba post office.
"There was some furniture work and repairs going on in the house in February. The complainant suspects that one of the workers or a servant may have flicked the house keys and stolen 1.2 kg gold and some diamond jewellery, as well as four imported watches," said an officer from Colaba police station. "We have registered a case under Section 380 (theft) of the IPC against unidentified persons and are investigating the matter," the officer added.
An unoccupied house looted at Engineer building at Marine lines.
In another incident, a businessman's house at Engineer building at Princess street, Marine Lines, was broken into by unidentified persons. The house is registered to one Jyoti Atul Ruparelia. "The family that owns the flat doesn't live there. On the noon of March 2, neighbours noticed that the safety door and wooden door had been broken, and they reported this to the police control room," said an officer from Azad Maidan police station. "We suspect the thieves must have kept watch on the flat and decided to break in on seeing that no one was home. The family was called and they registered a complaint. They claim that gold jewellery worth Rs 23.4 lakh has been stolen," added the officer.
A case was registered under Sections 454 (house breaking), 457 (house breaking at night) and 380 (theft) of the IPC.
Inside job
In the third case, a goldsmith workshop in Pydhonie was looted by one of the workers, identified as Shafique. "The worker, Shafique, came to the workshop on the reference of another worker, Shaukat. When the owner checked the gold, he found 406 grams missing. We have registered a complaint against Shaukat and Shafique under Sections 379 and 34 (common intention) of the IPC," said an officer from Pydhonie police station. "We don't have any leads till now, but we have some CCTV footage from around workshop, we are working on it," added the officer.
Copspeak
"Special teams have been formed to investigate all three offences. We have leads in it. There is no increase in house-breaking or theft cases. In fact, such crimes have reduced by 30% in 2016, compared to 2015. Police stations have been told to increase surveillance," said Dr Pratap Dighavkar, additional commissioner (south region).
