Taking advantage of the police being occupied with security arrangements for the ongoing Maratha reservation agitation at Azad Maidan, burglars broke into a garment shop in the Fort area of Mumbai by breaking the shutter lock. The act was captured on CCTV, where the culprits were seen with saffron scarves on their shoulders and in their hands.
Police officials said they are investigating whether the burglars deliberately used saffron scarves to mislead the authorities or whether it was a coincidence. A case of housebreaking has been registered at Mata Ramabai Ambedkar (MRA) Marg Police Station.
For the past four days, thousands of Maratha protesters from across Maharashtra have gathered near CSMT for the reservation agitation. With protesters moving around in saffron caps and scarves, large parts of South Mumbai are occupied by them. Due to the agitation, several traders and office owners in the area have kept their establishments closed.
The burglary victim, Amit Gala, a resident of Andheri, owns a garment shop (Shop No. 1, JB House, Raghunath Dadaji Street, Fort). On Saturday night, Gala closed the shop and left. The next morning, when he returned to open it, he found the shutter lock broken. On entering, he discovered that ₹6,000 cash and garments had been stolen. The burglars had also attempted to break into the adjacent shop.
Upon checking the CCTV footage, Gala found that a group of men wearing saffron scarves had entered the shop and committed the theft. Following his complaint, police registered a case against unidentified burglars and launched a search operation based on the CCTV evidence.
A senior officer confirmed that the investigation is on to ascertain whether the culprits were genuine miscreants or whether they used saffron scarves deliberately to disguise themselves as protesters and divert suspicion.