42-year-old thief trageting mall shoppers arrested

The cops found 42 mobile phones worth Rs 1.5 lakh, 77 debit and credit cards, 14 pan cards, four Aadhar cards, eight driving licenses and four voting cards he stole

A 42-year-old man, who allegedly stole mobiles, purses, credit and debit cards of women shopping in plush malls across the city, was arrested by Thane Crime Branch Unit 5. The accused Bappi Bhatacharya stole handbags and mobile phones from the shopping trolleys of unsuspecting customers in the last few months from Mumbai and Thane.

The police had received a complaint about the theft of a woman’s purse and mobile phone from Korum mall in Thane. The cops then formed a special team and went through the CCTV footage of the mall.

Thane deputy commissioner of police (crime) Parag Manere said,“We found a suspect on the footage and decided to keep an eye on him. On September 9, we got a tip off that the accused Bhatacharya, 43, was seen entering D mart at Kolshet Road. We nabbed him and found a Samsung mobile phone from him and he also agreed to have robbed a woman at Korum mall in Thane.”

The accused, a resident of Mira Road, has carried out similar thefts in malls across Thane, Mumbai, Mira Road, Goregaon, Malad and Kalyan-Dombivli. He targeted shopping malls and supermarkets like Big Bazar, D mart and Sahkar Bhandar.

The accused is a history sheeter who has five cases against him in different police stations. The police has arrested him under Section 380 of the IPC and remanded him to police custody till September 14.