11-year-old girl helps police arrest thief in Andheri

A 38-year-old thief, with 17 cases against him, was arrested at Andheri station after an 11-year-old girl gave the police his description.

A 38-year-old thief, who would target houses that were not under CCTV surveillance, was arrested at Andheri station last week after an 11-year-old girl gave the MIDC police his description.

11-year-old girl helps police arrest thief in Andheri

A resident of Shivaji Nagar, Deepak alias Nikhil Vaishya, 38, has had 17 cases registered against him for stealing from houses in Chembur, Deonar and nearby areas between 2011 and 2019, a police officer said. However, a camera captured him in the act in July 2022 and he was arrested.

“After he came out of jail on bail, he changed his modus operandi. He also started striking houses between 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm as he thought people did not expect thieves to work these hours,” the officer said.

The last of the thefts registered with the police occurred on October 13 when Vaishya decamped with gold ornaments worth ₹2.4 lakh after finding a house in an Andheri East building unlocked. Some children, who were playing near it, told the police they saw a person staking out the building and walking around it for an hour before going upstairs, the police officer said.

“One 11-year-old girl gave us this man’s description. We then collected footage from the CCTV cameras on the approach roads to the buildings where similar thefts had occurred over the last couple of months. The girl identified the accused from the recordings,” another police officer said.

Using local intelligence, a police team traced Vaishya to Mira Bhayandar but no one knew his exact address. The police learnt that Vaishya was a regular at a bar in Thane and laid a trap, but he didn’t turn up. Later, a trap at Siddhivinayak Temple in Dadar, where he would visit every Tuesday, did not yield anything either.

“On Saturday, we came to know that he was taking a train to Andheri station from Bhayandar. We immediately reached there and arrested him,” the officer added.

Vaishya has allegedly confessed to 13 thefts after getting out of prison last year. The police team also seized jewellery worth ₹22.6 lakh, including 100% recovery from an earlier theft in which gold ornaments worth ₹18 lakh had been stolen.

The commissioner of police, Vivek Phansalkar, felicitated the investigating team on Monday.