Ringleader, his three aides from Tamil Nadu nabbed from Dharavi lodge; police say they visited Mumbai on and off, claimed to be cloth traders
Vadival Kaliappan Bhoyar, leader of the gang of thieves who stole from people by pretending to be deaf and mute, enters Bank of Maharashtra in Malad posing as a customer on June 16. Moments later, he nicks the assistant branch manager’s iPhone worth Rs 40,000 and sneaks out. Illustrations/Uday Mohite
The assistant manager, realising her phone is missing, frantically checks its location using the Apple account, and traces it to Dharavi. She immediately dials up the police from the bank to file a complaint
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Police rushes to the branch and starts examining the footage of all the CCTV cameras at the bank to track their movement. They later also check the footage from railway stations from Malad to Matunga
Officers led by Assistant Inspector Sachin Kapse establish their location, and rush to a lodge at Dharavi, where Vadival was staying with five others. The cops barge into his room and catch four, including Vadival, but two others manage to flee. Police say they also recovered the mobile phone on June 17
Vadival Bhoyar, 36, the ringleader, Govindswami Salapuri Bhoyar, 41, Mahaviran Venkataswamy Bhoyar, 32, Manjunath Rangaswamy Bhoyar, 48