Mumbai: Nine yards land thieving women in police net

It wasn’t facial recognition or fingerprints that cracked the jewellery theft case in Bhandup — it was a saree. A distinct nine-yard nauvari saree, traditionally worn by rural women in Maharashtra and draped in a unique style, became the key identifier that led Bhandup police to two seasoned women thieves from Jalna district.

Armed with this visual clue and knowledge of the suspects’ travel patterns, police launched a massive autorickshaw-checking operation, stopping over 150 rickshaws before finally arresting the duo in Mahape, Navi Mumbai.

The two elderly women, habitual offenders with at least eight prior cases across Maharashtra, were identified as Ushabai Dagdu Makale, 60, and Leelabai Suryabhan Dhokle, 62, both residents of the Haji Malang Dargah area in Kalyan.

(From left) Leelabai Suryabhan Dhokle, 62, and Ushabai Dagdu Makale, 60 in police custody. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

Explaining their modus operandi, PSI Ganesh Sanap of Bhandup police station, who is also the investigating officer, said, “They always travel to their targets in autorickshaws but never use just one. They keep switching rickshaws between home and crime spots to throw off police trails.”

In the Bhandup case, they followed their usual routine. After committing the theft, they left Bhandup in an autorickshaw, switched at Mulund, took another to Mahape, then a third to Shilphata, and finally a fourth to reach their home in Kalyan.

Based on this pattern, police planned a strategic trap. A plainclothes team was stationed at a busy Mahape intersection connecting to Mulund and Mumbai, scanning rickshaws for women in nauvari sarees. “We checked 150 to 170 rickshaws before finally spotting them; they were on their way to attempt another theft,” said Sanap.

The women usually pose as customers in jewellery shops, asking to see gold ornaments. “In the Bhandup case, one of them used an A4 sheet to cover the jewellery on display, then discreetly slid it off the counter. She handed it over to the other, who hid some inside her blouse and some in a handbag,” explained Sanap.

Originally from Nagewadi village in Jalna, the women worked as daily-wage labourers before committing their first recorded theft in 2014 in Kopargaon, Ahmednagar. They later moved to Kalyan for work, but the thefts continued.

“During our investigation, we found several pending cases against them; they had somehow kept slipping through the net. FIRs are registered at police stations in Mukundwadi (Aurangabad), Khadakpada (Kalyan), Dombivli, Wagle Estate (Thane), Trombay, Oshiwara, Goregaon, and more,” Sanap confirmed.

While each theft involved only a couple of ornaments, the cumulative value of stolen jewellery across cases exceeds Rs 15 lakh.

2014
Year first case was registered against the duo

This article first appeared on Mid Day