Gujarat man wanted in a string of break-ins arrested in Borivali

A 36-year-old man from Gujarat who had been on a break-in spree in the city for the last one-and-a-half years, leaving behind 56 unsolved cases, was arrested in Borivali on Sunday

A 36-year-old man from Gujarat who had been on a break-in spree in the city for the last one-and-a-half years, leaving behind 56 unsolved cases, was arrested in Borivali on Sunday.

The tools that have been seized from the accused HT Photo

According to police, Ajit Arjun Pillai holds an MSc degree in statistics and has carried out over 100 burglaries. Investigation has also revealed that he has been to jail over 35 times.

The Borivali police received a tip-off that a serial thief would come to Om Nagar. A team was waiting for Pillai when he arrived on a two-wheeler which was later found to have been stolen in Dahisar. During questioning, the police found that he is the son of a school teacher and stays in Gujarat.

Ninad Sawant, senior police inspector of Borivali police station, said they found some tools like screw driver and cutters in his possession. Pillai allegedly confessed to having stolen around ₹50,000 from six shops in Borivali on Saturday night.

The accused had been coming to Mumbai once every week over the past one-and-a-half years and had burgled houses in Borivali, Goregaon, Kandivali, Andheri, Goregaon etc, police officers said. He was last booked in December 2021 and since then, he had gone off the police radar.

Explaining his modus operandi, the officers said Pillai would come to Mumbai by road in the evening, get off at Ghodbunder Road, and put his mobile phone on flight mode. He would then roam around in the localities in and around the city and scout for targets. After completing his job, he would take an autorickshaw to Mira Road the next morning and hire a private vehicle to return to his hometown.

Pillai was first arrested along with his roommates for theft when he was in junior college around two decades ago. Then, his parents advised him to study hard and get a degree, Sawant said. “Pillai is a habitual offender and even after he completed his masters in statistics, he prefers to commit thefts rather than finding employment on the basis of his educational qualification.”