A burglar, who interestingly mostly targetted residences of policemen, was arrested by the police on Friday. Inquiries have revealed that he has committed at least 17 such crimes, and had even been externed, but he returned to Mumbai and resumed his criminal activities.
According to the Pant Nagar police, the residence of a female police constable was burgled on August 1 while she was on duty. She came back to find the lock to her door broken and valuables worth `28,000 missing. A complaint was subsequently registered with the Pant Nagar police.
“Our main suspect was Shrikant Khaire (28), a resident of the Ramabai Nagar transit camp, who we had arrested earlier for a similar crime. However, he had been externed so we had no information about his whereabouts, making it difficult for us to detain him for questioning,” said an officer with the Pant Nagar police station.
The police then initiated inquiries in Pant Nagar and neighbouring areas, and as part of investigations, decided to check whether Khaire had returned to Mumbai in spite of his externment.
The police’s inquiries paid off, when an informant tipped them off and said that Khaire had been seen in the Ramabai Nagar area and was suspected to meet his wife regularly.
Acting on the tip-off, the police laid a trap around Khaire’s residence, and in the early hours of Friday, picked him up as he was about to enter his house. He was then taken to the police station and questioned, after which he confessed to have committed the theft.
“Khaire has confessed to several more crimes of a similar nature in Ghatkopar and neighbouring areas. On being asked why he kept targeting the Pant Nagar railway police colony, he simply said that it was close to his residence and hence, it was easy for him to flee after committing a theft and hide the loot in his house,” the officer added.
Khaire’s wife Manda, who would hide the loot, was also picked up, and several kilograms of gold jewellery has been recovered from the house. Both the accused are currently in judicial custody, the police said.