Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The Begumpura police arrested a thief, Amber alias Balu Vithal Devkar while attempting to lift a motorcycle from the campus of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), four days ago. When produced in the court, he has been awarded with police custody remand (PCR) till Wednesday.
Amber (26, Pharshiphata, Phulambri) has four acres of land and the salary in the hotel was also sufficient, then he left the job and got involved in vehicle thefts. Last year, 19 cases of theft were registered against him. He had come out of the jail on condition three months ago.
The incidents of vehicle thefts from the GMCH campus have been growing in the last five months. Hence the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Nitin Bagate deployed cops wearing civil uniforms in the GMCH parking. In one case, the thief was seen in the CCTV footage. Later on, the cops came to know that a person of the same features was seen moving into the hospital campus on Saturday. Acting upon the information, PI Mangesh Jagtap and PSI Vinod Bhalerao reached the campus. The cops detained him while Amber was trying to unlock the handle of one vehicle.
Amber left his hotel job and would roam around in the GMCH campus and Waluj MIDC area. He would steal the two-wheelers using duplicate keys. He used to steal one bike and as soon as the fuel in it was exhausted, he would steal another vehicle from the vicinity. Three months ago, he was arrested. The Begumpura police had traced the locations of 12 motorcycles stolen by him on this same pattern and seized them.
During the investigation, it is learnt that the majority of the vehicles were stolen from Prozone Mall and GMCH campus, etc. Further investigation is on.