Maha: Businessman turns burglar after suffering losses due to lockdown; held

A 45yearold cloth trader from Solapur allegedly took to committing burglaries and thefts after suffering losses in his business due to the coronavirusinduced lockdown police said on WednesdayHe was arrested last week in Maharashtras Solapur city in connection with eight such cases they saidThe accused identified as Anand Kodam a resident of Vajreshwari Nagar in Solapur located about 400 km from Mumbai was nabbed on September 2 when he was on way to sell some ornaments allegedly stolen by him a police official saidKodam was earlier into his familys cloth business and they used to run a factory in Solapur he saidIn 2018 he parted ways with his family due to some reasons and started living separately with his wife and childrenHe then started an independent business of sale and purchase of towels which was running well the official saidHowever last year a businessman allegedly cheated him of Rs 8 lakh due to which he had to take loans and after a few days had to shut his business in the wake of the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID19 he saidAfter being unable to repay the loans Kodam allegedly started committing burglaries since August 1 this year the official saidHis modus operandi was to commit thefts between 11 am and 2 pm and he used to target houses having cast iron locks which he could be broken easily said Solapur Jail Road police stations subinspector Alfaz Shaikh who nabbed the accusedAccording to the official Kodam had allegedly committed at least seven housebreakings in the jurisdiction of the Jail Road police limitsThe police examined footage of at least 100 CCTVs in the area but as the accused wore a mask while committing the offences it was difficult to identify himHowever in one of the CCTV footage he was found without the mask and identified the official saidAccordingly the police laid a trap on September 2 and apprehended him when he was on way to a jewellers market to sell some of the stolen ornaments he saidThe official said the accused initially told the police that he had committed only one theft but later during questioning he informed about other six burglaries committed by him in the Jail Road area and one in the MIDC Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation areaThe police have so far recovered gold worth Rs 760 lakh and Rs 1 lakh cash allegedly stolen by him he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever