Mumbai: Man turned thief to feed 2 wives, 4 children

Accused in seven cases of break-in and theft in Worli Koliwada, a 45-year-old man confessed to his crime, saying he became a criminal to feed his large family

A 45-year-old man, who was arrested last week for breaking-in seven properties and stealing valuables in Worli Koliwada, claimed that he became a criminal to support his two families. The accused married twice and has two kids from each wife.

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Accused Anant Pandurang Bhalekar

Cops say the accused, identified as Anant Pandurang Bhalekar, has confessed to his crime. They have also recovered 320 grams of gold ornaments and Rs 11,000 cash from him.

Unstable finances
“Bhalekar first got married 20 years ago and the second time in 2002. He couldn’t afford the expenses of all six of his family members, so he opted to steal and feed them,” said Deepali Kulkarni, assistant police inspector, Dadar police station. Being from the Koli community, Bhalekar initially worked as a fisherman but took up plumbing later since he was incurring losses. “After plumbing didn’t pay all his bills, he started stealing in 2012,” said Kulkarni.

Similar pattern
“The seven cases, which were registered in 2014, include a jewelery shop, two co-operative banks and four other houses in the neighbourhood,” added Kulkarni. All the cases were committed in similar fashion.

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The accused had sneaked in from the window and escaped from the same route so the cops had guessed that the thief should be from the same area. “We got a tip-off about Bhalekar. We brought him to the police station for inquiry and arrested him after he confessed,” said Kulkarni.

Booked
The accused has been booked under Sections 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking in ), 454 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night) and 380 (theft in dwelling house, etc) of the Indian Penal Code and has been remanded in police custody.

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