Mumbai Police on Saturday caught a man who had allegedly stolen gold ornaments from Pune’s popular Akhil Mandai Ganapati temple. The accused was arrested from Mumbai’s Zaveri Bazaar area where he had probably gone to sell the stolen booty.
He has been identified as 19-year-old Ajay Mahavir Bhuktar, a resident of Hamalwadi, Hingoli.
Bhuktar, who was reportedly moving around in a suspicious manner, was asked to stop by a patrol team of LT Marg police station on Saturday night on the Dhanji Street. Instead of stopping, Bhuktar started running till he was nabbed by the police.
On frisking him, two gold necklaces and a diamond were found in his pocket. As his replies were not satisfactory, the police detained him under section 41 (d) of Criminal Procedure Code ( CrPC) and took him to the police station.
“During sustained questioning, he admitted that he had stolen gold ornaments from Pune’s Akhil Mandai Ganapati temple under Vishrambaug police station,” said an officer from the LT Marg police station.
On contacting their counterpart in Pune, the Mumbai Police learnt that Bhuktar had stolen 224 grams of gold ornaments. The city police have recovered ornaments worth 142 grams, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}On contacting their counterpart in Pune, the Mumbai Police learnt that Bhuktar had stolen 224 grams of gold ornaments. The city police have recovered ornaments worth 142 grams, the police said.
{{/usCountry}}Senior inspector of LT Marg police station Deepak Nikam said that the accused is being handed over to the Vishrambaug police station for further investigation.
The Akhil Mandai Mandal and its Sharada-Ganesh idol is one of the main attractions of Pune’s Ganesh festival. The incident had taken place on the night of January 7. The matter came to light the next day when the priest visited the temple at 6am. The incident also got caught on the CCTV camera installed in the temple premises. The thief had also broken into the donation box and stolen the cash.