Gang involved in 28 house-breaking thefts in district arrested; goods valuing Rs 3.63 lakh seized

Aurangabad, Oct 19:

The local crime branch (LCB) of the rural police has arrested two persons for their involvement in 28 house-breaking thefts (HBTs) in the district. The duo is brother-in-laws of each other. The police confiscated goods valuing Rs 3.63 lakh including ornaments of valuing Rs 3.30 lakh; cash Rs 14,000 and two cellphones along with the cutter, said the superintendent of police (SP) Nimit Goyal.

The names of accused are Sanjay Maroti Shinde (29, resident of Nanjepati in Bhokardan tehsil) and Ramaanna Pawar (26, Pukhrajnagar in Bhokardan).

While addressing a press conference, the SP said, " Many incidents of house-breaking thefts at many places in the district since January, this year. It has been found that the thieves were forcibly entering the houses by damaging the locks with the help of a cutter and them decamp with goods and valuables. Hence, the LCB team comprising PI Santosh Khetmalas, PSI Vijay Jadhav, Pradeep Thube, Namdeo Shirsaat, Sanjay Devre, Vithal Rakh, Balu Pathrikar, Shrimant Bhalerao, Kiran Gore, Walmik Nikam, Rahul Pagare, Shaikh Nadeem, Shaikh Akhtar, Babasaheb Navale, Dnyaneshwar Mete, Yogesh Tarmale and Jeevan Gholap started investigation. In the meantime, one Kakasaheb Bhikan Chavan (of Kingaon in Phulambri) lodged a complaint of HBT on the night of October 10. The thieves decamp with valuables worth Rs 99.500. Phulambri police had started the investigation. Meanwhile, the Wadod Bazaar police also got active as 7-8 house-breaking thefts took place in their jurisdiction. During investigation, the cops came across the suspicious movement of one accused in CCTV cameras. On the basis of features, the informers informed the police about the involvement of the Shinde gang in thefts. Accordingly, the cops reached Bhokardan tehsil and nabbed Ramaanna Pawar and Sanjay Shinde outside the village. When pressed hard, the duo spills the beans. They confessed to committing 45 housebreaking thefts (in series) with the help of four other accomplices. Of the total thefts, 28 were held in the jurisdiction of 13 police stations in Aurangabad district.

The duo also confessed to distributing the booty amongst six persons. Hence, the police confiscated their share of valuing Rs 3.63 lakh. It comprises gold and silver ornaments (valuing Rs 3.30 lakh), cash (Rs 14,000) and 2 cellphones. The police also seized the cutter used in the thefts.

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The parents of Ramaanna Pawar are also thefts. His mother is mangalsutra thief and father is also a professional thief. His mother along with women relatives travels in the State Transport buses and steal the golden chains, mangalsutras of the fellow ladies passengers in the bus. They steal golden ornaments or money by opening the zips of ladies purses. Ramaanna Pawar was doing nothing till today, but as the bus service was suspended owing to the lockdown, the accused started to break the locked houses, said the cops.