Thief who stole from temple donation boxes arrested

Police in Mumbai arrested a 29-year-old man for stealing from donation boxes at temples in the Kurla East area. The suspect was identified through CCTV footage and traced through his brother's social media post. Police recovered ₹5,000 from the suspect.

MUMBAI: The police on Saturday arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly stealing from donation boxes at temples in the Kurla East area. The police said after the accused recently fled with two donation boxes in a temple, he was identified with the help of CCTV cameras however they didn’t find him at his address. The police learnt that the brother of the accused had posted his photo on social media with his scooter. An e-challan issued for the scooter helped the police trace the family’s new address and nab the accused.

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According to the Nehru Nagar police in Kurla East on Friday night there was a theft of donation boxes at Nandikeshwar Temple in Kurla East, Kamgar Nagar. “The accused had broken the iron grill and later a lock and then broke open two donation boxes and fled with around ₹25,000 from the temple,” said Yusuf Saudagar, senior police inspector of Nehru Nagar police station.

A case was registered after priest Vinayak Bharte of the temple reported the matter to the police. “We checked the footage of around 60 CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity of the temple and found the accused was an on-record criminal, identified as Nikhil Anil Kamble, 29, a resident of Bharat Nagar, Vashi Naka in Chembur,” said Saudagar.

The police then opened old documents and went to the address mentioned at Lallubhai Compound in Mankhurd only to find that the accused had purchased a new house and no one in the neighbourhood knew their new address.

“We then learnt from his friends that his brother Nilekh Kamble had purchased a new scooter and even posted a photo with it on Instagram. We then got registration details of the two-wheeler and found it was registered in the name of one Kalpana Karande who told them that the vehicle was in her name and used by the Kamble family. However, as they didn’t pay the EMI on time it was confiscated by the bank,” said the police officer.

The police then through the e-challans that were pending on the two-wheeler got the mobile number of Kamble and when they studied the call details records they found he was in Bharat Nagar near Vashi Naka in Chembur.

“We then showed people his photo and got his address kept a watch on his house and eventually picked him up. We have recovered ₹5,000 from him that was stolen from the donation box,” said Saudagar.