Seven-year housebreaking run ends for three Mumbai men

The Deonar police in Govandi have nabbed three serial criminals responsible for a series of theft in the eastern suburbs of the city with over 20 housebreaking cases to their names. The police recovered gold worth over Rs 10 lakh from them.

The latest incident to be reported was in a society at PL Lokhande Marg on April 4. A closed house was broken up by the trio after which they stole gold ornaments from the owner’s cupboard.

“Several teams were formed as several cases with a similar modus operandi and pattern came to light. Local undercover informants were asked to assist the cops in finding the thieves,” said a police officer. The team was led by Senior Police Inspector Basit Ali Syed of the Deonar police and the primary investigator was Police Sub Inspector Kailash Sonawane.

The arrested individuals are Shakir Abdul Rahil Sheikh, 33 from Mankhurd, Sanjay Ratnesh Kamble, 45, from Diva in Thane district, and Nilesh Raju Londhe, 24, from Chunabhatti.

According to PSI Sonawane, the trio have been in this housebreaking business for the past seven years. “For the first two years, they never got caught but in the last five years, they were arrested several times. However, they managed to get out on bail and resumed their criminal activity,” said Sonawane.

He also added that their prime location for housebreakings were areas in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai as they were familiar with the roads and surroundings which helped them escape without being captured on CCTV cameras.

Explaining the modus operandi, Sonawane said, “They mostly used stolen vehicles to move around, so even if they were captured on CCTV, it wouldn’t lead back to them. In this case, they stole an autorickshaw from Sanpada (Navi Mumbai) and randomly entered the victim’s housing society. They went into the building and found a locked door. This is their usual pattern — to look for locked houses and break in. They typically commit the crimes in the late evenings.”

Following their arrest, police seized a car used during the crimes, tools such as an iron chopper, screwdrivers, and cutters used to break into houses.

Rs 10L
Value of the gold recovered by the police

This article first appeared on Mid Day