Dharavi teen, two friends, held for `3.5 lakh theft

Three teenagers from Dharavi almost got away with Rs3.5 lakh loot, but the mastermind's inability to stay clam during routine police questioning did them in. One of them, a 14-year-old, hatched a plan to break into his neighbours' home after observing that the couple kept their house keys with his parents whenever they went out.

Three teenagers from Dharavi almost got away with Rs3.5 lakh loot, but the mastermind's inability to stay clam during routine police questioning did them in. One of them, a 14-year-old, hatched a plan to break into his neighbours' home after observing that the couple kept their house keys with his parents whenever they went out.

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The accused, Sunny Singh (name changed as the accused is a minor), along with two other friends, aged 14 years and 17 years, decided to rob the couple staying next door to Singh's Rajiv Gandhi Nagar residence in Dharavi the next time they stepped out, the police said.

Senior inspector of Dharavi police station Ashok Survegandh said, "They got their chance on Sunday. Singh slipped out with the keys without his family's knowledge and alerted his friends." The trio allegedly entered the neighbours' residence with the keys and made away with a bag containing cash and gold jewellery worth Rs3.5 lakh.

"In order to make it look like a break-in, the trio climbed on the cupboard and bore a hole through the roof. They locked the main door from outside, and Sunny slipped back the keys to where his parents had kept them," Survegandh said. They managed to do all this within a span of minutes, added the senior inspector.

The couple returned on Sunday evening and, ironically, it was Singh who gave them the house keys, the police said. When the discovered the robbery, they rushed to the police, who suspected a local gang for the break-in. "We called in Singh for routine questioning to track the sequence of events, but he seemed very anxious and started perspiring, which made us suspicious. Within five minutes of questioning, he confessed to the crime. We have recovered the stolen booty," added the senior inspector. The trio has been arrested on the charge of house break-in and sent to the children's home in Dongri.