4 burglars who moved in high-end cars to identify targets held

Police arrested four members of a house-breaking gang in Mumbai who used high-end cars to identify potential targets. The gang believed that occupants of high-end cars are generally not stopped by the police even if they are out late at night. The arrested men have several cases registered against them across the city. The police officers seized jewellery worth ?4 lakh belonging to one victim and believe the gang is wanted in several other cases. The four men have been remanded to police custody.

MUMBAI: The weekly practise called “Aadaan Pradaan” in which police stations, within a region in the city, exchange details of accused persons led to the arrest of four members of a house-breaking gang, who used to borrow high-end cars from a garage and drive around in the night to identify potential targets.

HT Image

The accused had come up with this idea as they believed that occupants of high-end cars are generally not stopped by the police even if they are out late in the night. The four arrested men have several cases registered against them across the city, said an official of MHB Colony police.

Last Saturday, Borivali police had arrested a man identified as Ali Imam Baig alias Makdum, 45, for a petty theft.

According to Sudhir Kudalkar, senior police inspector of MHB Colony police station, during the “Aadaan Pradaan” meeting of the 21 police stations in the north region last Saturday, Borivali police had showed a video of Baig in their lock up. The crime inspector from MHB police station recognised Baig from the CCTV recordings of four house breakings committed within their jurisdiction.

Kudalkar said that the four men had met, a few years ago, in a prison, where they were lodged for petty thefts. They soon formed a gang to commit bigger crimes. They used to rent or borrow high-end cars, from garage workers, to identify possible targets across the city by driving around in the night.

“Occupants of high-end cars are generally not stopped by the police even if they are spotted at odd hours in the night and are seen less suspicious,” said a police officer from MHB Colony police station.

On March 6, 2023, the four had broken into a flat in Eksar Nagar, Borivali West, which belonged to Krishna Goswami, who had had gone to Uttar Pradesh along with her family to perform the last rites of her grandfather. On returning, she found her house ransacked, jewellery and cash worth ₹5 lakh missing from her locker.

Goswami had registered a complaint with the police. In 2022, the MHB Colony police had registered four cases against the gang and in 2023, they have two more cases registered against the gang.

After the recent arrest of the four accused, the police searched their houses and seized jewellery, belonging to Goswami, worth ₹4 lakh.

“We have found out that the men are also wanted in several cases registered by Shivaji Park, Colaba, Wadala, Thane and Navi Mumbai police,” said the officer.

The four have been arrested for house breaking and were produced before the court on Tuesday where they were remanded to police custody.

“We are yet to recover booty worth ₹20 lakh from the accused which they have robbed in 2022 and 2023 within our jurisdiction,” said the officer.

Started by Satyanarayan Chowdhary, joint commissioner of police, Law-and-Order, these weekly meetings have police officers such as senior inspectors, crime inspectors and detection officers from different police stations of a region interacting through video conference, where they share details of accused persons.