Man who helped Mumbai cops solve break-in case held for ₹1.8 crore theft

The man has been alleged to have carried out a theft at his employer’s house and fleeing with valuables worth ₹1.8 crore to Bihar

A 21-old man who had helped police crack a house break-in case in south Mumbai has been alleged to have carried out a theft at his employer’s house in Bhulabhai Desai road near Breach Candy Hospital and fleeing with valuables worth ₹1.8 crore to Bihar.

Mumbai Police have recovered the valuables.

“He had helped us solve a break-in case that had taken place at a businessman’s house in our jurisdiction by tipping us about the accused. He worked with us for a long time during the investigation, which helped him understand our functioning,” said an officer from Gamdevi police station.

After this, the accused had decided to carry out the break-in at his employer’s house.

On July 5, a theft had taken place at the home of a bath fittings dealer when the family had gone to Lonavala for a function. The accused had fled with diamond and gold jewellery and cash, all collectively worth ₹1.8 crore.

“The accused had not used his phone nor was he captured in any of the CCTV cameras. He had made sure that the cameras did not capture him,” said an officer from Gamdevi police station.

However, in the routine inquiry, the police started questioning all the domestic helps of the house and found that one of them – Chandan Mukhia – who had been working with the family for the past three months, had went missing.

“We started searching for him and minor details lead us to reach a small village under the Darbhanga Sonki police station’s jurisdiction in Bihar,” said the police officer.

However, the cops did not find the accused at his village.

“We stayed in Darbhanga for 24 days and finally traced Mukhia to his sister’s house in a nearby village. If we could have left the area, we would have not succeeded in arresting the accused,” said the officer.

Mukhia denied his role in the house break-in and said had fled Mumbai because he feared that he would be blamed for the theft.

However, the police kept questioning him and when he was promised that they would let him go if he returned the stolen booty, Mukhia accepted his crime.

The cops recovered all the valuables from him and also arrested his uncle Phulo, sister Reena and cousin Bacchan. The police said Mukhia had buried the stolen booty near his house.

The police said Mukhia had criminal record against him and had carried out similar thefts at his previous employers’ house after working there for some time.

“His whole family has record of carrying out thefts after getting employed as house help. People should check the criminal record of workers before employing them as house helps,” said the officer.