Two men, a teenager, and their minor sons have been apprehended for allegedly operating a string of house break-ins and thefts across Maharashtra’s Thane district, police said on Sunday. According to PTI, the Mahatma Phule Chowk Police in Kalyan recently uncovered a burglary racket allegedly run by family members. Investigators revealed that the adult accused identified locked homes in residential areas and instructed their sons to enter the properties and steal valuables. The police action followed a detailed investigation into multiple theft incidents reported from Kalyan and nearby localities, exposing what officials described as an organised family-based burglary operation active in the region for several months.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashok Honmane stated that officers arrested 19-year-old Kailas Vilas Bhalerao along with two men, while two minors aged 14 and 15 were detained in connection with the crimes. Police also recovered stolen gold ornaments valued at nearly Rs 21.6 lakh during the operation. The case surfaced after a resident from Kalyan West lodged a complaint on May 8 regarding a housebreaking incident. Based on intelligence inputs and technical investigation, the police traced the accused and arrested them on May 13. Authorities later discovered the gang’s alleged involvement in at least three additional burglaries committed across the Kalyan region in recent months.
During questioning, investigators learned that the two men, identified as Vilas Prakash Bhalerao and Deepak Ashok Jadhav, allegedly used their regular work assignments to survey residential societies and identify homes that remained locked. They would reportedly pass this information to their children, who then carried out the thefts with the help of the teenage accused. Police said the group specifically targeted cash and gold jewellery before escaping from the scene. Officials believe the accused carefully selected houses after observing residents’ routines. Further investigation is underway to determine whether the gang was linked to more burglary cases reported in the Thane district and surrounding areas over the past year.
In another crime-related development, the Thane Crime Branch arrested two women accused of stealing gold ornaments from passengers travelling in crowded buses. According to PTI, Crime Unit-I solved nine theft cases after recovering jewellery worth around Rs 37.19 lakh from the accused. Senior Inspector Sachin Gaikwad said the women mainly targeted elderly passengers during busy travel hours. The latest complaint was filed by a 72-year-old woman who alleged that her gold-studded purse was stolen from her handbag while travelling by bus between Kharegaon Naka and Ozone Valley bus stop in Thane. Police investigations later helped identify and arrest the two accused women.