Rs 70 lakh cash was stolen from house of former Congress Corporator of Mira Road Rajeev Mehra. However the amount was recovered by police from Mehra’s friend of 20 years Sanjay Kumar Singh who broke through the terrace of his home & got away with the cash, police said. Mehra was doing cable work with Hathaway & Singh knew where he kept Daily Cash earnings. Incidentally Singh was called ‘Neta ji’ for his proximity to Ex Corporator.
According to the police officers, Mehra had left his house at 12pm on Monday to meet his party workers and for other meetings. As he returned at 9pm, he noticed that the lock on the door of his terrace was broken and his cupboard and safe had been ransacked.Mehra immediately called up the police as cash and jewellery worth around ₹75 lakh were missing from his house. The police said that Mehra, who is from the Congress party, also owns a business of supplying cable in the area due to which cash transactions are his daily routine.
“Only a person close to Mehra could have known about such a huge sum of cash and the location of the safe. We found that nothing apart from the cupboard containing the cash and jewellery was touched by the robber,” said Avinash Ambure, deputy commissioner of police (crime), Mira-Bhayander-Vasai-Virar. Ambure said that as they studied the spot, they found the CCTV images of the house and of the area where they immediately identified the accused. “Within 12 hours we arrested Singh from his house in Sheetal Nagar on Mira Road,” said Ambure.The police said that Singh was a trusted aide of Mehra who had been working with him for years, “Singh was also called ‘Neta’ for his proximity to Mehra,” said a police officer from Mira Road police station. The police arrested Singh and recovered the entire stolen cash and jewellery from his residence. “Singh wanted the money to start his own business and knew that Mehra had cash in his locker. We have arrested Singh for housebreaking and will produce him before the court on Wednesday,” said Ambure.