Geeta Gawli robbed of Rs 2,000 at her BMC office

The chairperson of the civic health committee returned from a meeting to her chambers on Monday to find that the amount had been taken from her purse; BMC's security dept says it will initiate a probe

Following the 26/11 terror attacks, security at the civic body’s office in South Mumbai was beefed up exponentially. Corporators are checked for verification, CCTV cameras survey the halls and round-the-clock security ensures that the premises are secure. However, it seems that all these security arrangements could not stop a theft of Rs 2,000 on the premises.

The amount was stolen from the purse of Geeta Gawli, chairperson of the civic health committee for the last two years and daughter of underworld don-turned-politician Arun Gawli. Around noon on Monday, she had left the purse in her official chamber on first floor and had gone to attend a meeting in the committee hall on the same floor. After the meeting concluded at 3.30 pm, Gawli returned to her chamber and realised that Rs 2,000 had gone missing from her purse.

Count down
“Usually, when I go for meetings I leave my purse in my chamber. On Monday, I had to give someone money so I had counted the amount and kept it in my purse.

When I returned from the meeting, I realised that Rs 2,000 was missing,” Gawli told MiD DAY. She said that she had not registered a complaint with the police since the amount stolen was not substantial and she didn’t want to make an issue. But she did inform the security and the municipal secretary departments of the BMC.

Taking cognisance of the issue, the administration began inquiries. “I will take details from the department and initiate an inquiry in this matter. It is not a question of the amount but integrity. Such an incident should not happen again,” said Ranjeet Dhakne, deputy municipal commissioner, in charge of the corporation’ security department.

Picking a phone!
In July 2009, a telephone was stolen from the office of NCP group leader Niyaz Wanu in the BMC HQ.u00a0

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