64 phones stolen in crowd welcoming ‘Chinchpokli cha Chintamani’

With two deputy commissioners of the police (DCPs) and 600 police officers deployed to accompany and manage the arrival of the idol, the police said that they had done an “elaborate bandobast (preparation)” for the function

MUMBAI: As the ‘Chinchpokli cha Chintamani’, a crowd favourite Ganesh idol, made its way to Chinchpokli on Sunday, around 64 devotees in the procession lost their phones and five lost their gold chains. A 200,000 strong crowd had gathered for the 2-km procession where the idol is taken from Parel, where it is crafted, to a pandal in Chinchpokli.

Mumbai, India - August 27, 2022: Huge crowd of devotees gather to have the first glimpse of Chinchpokli Cha Chintamani Lord Ganesha idol during its arrival procession, at Lalbaug, in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, August 27, 2022. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

With two deputy commissioners of the police (DCPs) and 600 police officers deployed to accompany and manage the arrival of the idol, the police said that they had done an “elaborate bandobast (preparation)” for the function.

Despite several police officers dressed in plain clothes, 64 people lost their phones in the crowd, a considerable reduction from the 271 people who had lost their phones during the procession last year. The police even brought down five drones flown above the procession, but found that they were being operated by photographers.

Rajendra Shinde, a 30-year-old manager of a jewellery store in Chira-Bazaar, had come for the Ganesh darshan from his house in Malad. When it was time for the idol to leave the workshop, and the police opened up the barricades blocking its way, a crowd surrounded him. Shinde later found that his 14g gold chain had been stolen. As Shinde reached the Bhoiwada police station, he found two students, Atharva Malvadkar, Aryan Dumdere, who had also lost their gold chains. Among other victims are Ayush Bandarkar and Rana Pande, both students, and Siddheshwar Khote, a photographer, who lost their iPhones to thieves in the crowd.

The police explained that every year many students came to attend the procession, and fell prey to thieves and to gangs that came to steal phones. The police added that this year officers in plain clothes had been deployed to try and stop the thieves who came from across the country to Lalbaug and Chinchpokli. “We have registered theft cases, arrested five people, and recovered six phones from them,” said a police officer from Kalachowki police station.

The police said that the local DCP Ragasudha R and her team were present along with traffic cops from the Parel workshop to the Chinchpokli Chintamani Ganpati pandal. The police added that the idol crosses the jurisdictions of Bhoiwada and Kalachowki police stations on its way.