Maharashtra man steals police probe kit, deletes crime data; held

As a result of the man's actions, police lost the entire data of the collection of evidence pertaining to crimes.

A 22-year-old man in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township was arrested Thursday for allegedly stealing a police kit used in crime investigations and deleting crime-related data from it, reported news agency PTI. The man has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 380 (theft) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence).

Police on Thursday arrested a 22-year-old man in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai township for allegedly stealing a police kit used in crime investigations and deleting data from it (Representative Image)

The man was detained along with a juvenile on May 17 in another case after they allegedly fought on the road, Koparkhairne police station's senior inspector Audhumbar Patil said.

During the duo's interrogation at a room in the police station, the 22-year-old man allegedly stole the "yatharta kit" (used during a probe into a crime) and fled. He later deleted all data from the probe kit, police said.

As a result of the man's actions, police lost the entire data of the collection of evidence pertaining to various crimes.

The accused is a habitual offender involved in house-breaking thefts, the police said.

Defrauding an old NRI man in Navi Mumbai

In a separate incident on Tuesday in Navi Mumbai, an 82-year-old NRI was allegedly cheated of ₹32 lakh by three persons who threatened to get him arrested for various offences, reported news agency PTI citing police sources.

As per the report, the accused contacted the old NRI man several times between May 12 and 18. They convinced the old man that offences had been registered against him on charges of involvement in anti-national activities, drug peddling and in the Pulwama attack, an official from Navi Mumbai's cyber police station said.

The defrauders threatened the old man of arrest for the mentioned crimes. They sent fake documents claiming to be from the Narcotics Control Bureau and also a confidentiality agreement to him on WhatsApp. The old man then deposited ₹32,13,305 in different bank accounts.

Police registered an FIR against the three persons under relevant Indian Penal Code sections for cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, personation and criminal intimidation as well as provisions of the Information Technology Act, the police official said.