Wannabe caterers held for stealing pots and pans from another caterer

However, it was not a laughing matter for the complainant Shafi Mohammed Shaikh as he would have suffered a loss of ₹ 4 lakh — the total cost of the missing utensils. Amused they may have been but the police did not ignore their duty and after three days of investigation

Mumbai The first case registered with the Shivaji Nagar police this year left the police amused, as it involved three Govandi residents, who tried to start their catering business by allegedly stealing pots and pans from another caterer.

Wannabe caterers held for stealing pots and pans from another caterer

However, it was not a laughing matter for the complainant Shafi Mohammed Shaikh as he would have suffered a loss of ₹ 4 lakh — the total cost of the missing utensils. Amused they may have been but the police did not ignore their duty and after three days of investigation, were able to nab all the three accused and recover stolen utensils from them.

“The accused — Aabid Sayyed, Shoaib Khan and Aftab Khan — had seen other caterers in the area doing well for themselves and wanted to enter the same business. However, they did not have a single penny to invest and hence, decided to steal the utensils, as they are among the costliest components of the business,” said a police officer.

According to the Shivaji Nagar police, the complaint was registered on January 1 this year by Shaikh, a caterer based in Bainganwadi, Govandi.

He told the police that on December 23 last year, he was approached by one of the accused, Sayyed, through a mutual friend. Sayyed told Shaikh that he had a function at his residence and needed large-sized pots and pans on rent.

Accordingly, a deal was fixed where Shaikh rented out 16 aluminium utensils, two large pots, 18 lids and five serving spoons for a period of two days, in exchange for ₹ 2,000.

“I delivered the utensils to Sayyed’s residence in Shivaji Nagar, and the agreement was that he would deliver them back to me on December 24. Sayyed paid me ₹ 2,000 in advance before I left,” Shaikh told the police in his statement.

When Sayyed did not return the utensils on time, Shaikh tried contacting him only to find the former’s phone switched off.

Shaikh even went to Sayyed’s residence, where the accused’s brother informed him that Sayyed had not come home for two days and that there had been no function at his residence.

Shaikh then approached the police and filed a complaint on January 1, after which investigations were initiated.

“We checked the Closed-Circuit Television CCTV camera footage from the spot where the utensils were delivered, and traced the tempo all the way to a residential locality near the Deonar dumping ground. Here, we saw Sayyed and two others alight from the tempo. We circulated stills of this clip among local informants,” said an officer with the Shivaji Nagar police station.

After three days of investigations, the police picked up Sayyed and as his accomplices from different areas in the Govandi-Shivaji Nagar belt. They were arrested and charged with cheating and criminal breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code. The stolen utensils were recovered from them.