The strange connection between a thief and a missing child?

Kalupur police were a worried lot on Monday when they learnt that a man arrested for theft earlier in the day lived in the same apartment as the missing 11-year-old girl Vishwa Patel. Vishwa went missing from her residence in Mira Mangal apartment near Vejalpur on January 27 this year. Vipul Thakkar, the man arrested for a theft, is also a resident of the same apartment.

For the last one month, Kalupur police had been receiving complaints about theft of parcels from pedal rickshaws. Shopkeepers of Gandhi road had complained that parcels coming to the bustling market were regularly targeted by thieves stealing parcels from the lot.

On Monday morning, the police received a tip-off that two people were trying to steal parcels from a parked auto on Gandhi road. Kalupur sub-inspector, PH Vasava, rushed with his men and nabbed Vipul Thakkar, 29, and his accomplice, Vicky Solanki, 20, red-handed. Solanki is a resident of Vatva.

It was just a routine arrest by the Kalupur police but when Thakkar told them that he lived at Mira Mangal apartment, the police became alert. They asked Thakkar questions related to Vishwa in hopes that the arrested man’s answers may give them a clue about the missing girl.

However, the cops were disappointed on realising  that Thakkar knew nothing about Vishwa and had never seen her.