Five shops in Khar looted of valuables worth Rs3 lakh in 20 minutes flat

It was some sort of wholesale burglary at a Khar business street on Wednesday. Four thieves broke into five wholesale garment shops in Khar (West) in the early hours, making off with cash and valuables worth Rs3 lakh in flat 20 minutes.

The burglars struck around 5.30am in a lane behind National College. The entire crime has been captured by a CCTV camera installed outside one of the shops.

The thefts took place despite the presence of security guards, who were found to be sleeping, at the spot. The Khar police have launched a manhunt for the four suspects.

The incident came to light after one of the shop owners, Arpit Premchand Bothra, came to work in the morning and found the shutter of his shop broken. He also found the cash box missing.

A few minutes later, owners of three neighbouring shops informed him about break-ins at their places. Bothra then approached the Khar police and lodged a complaint against four unidentified persons.

A team from the Khar police went to the crime scene and collected the footage from two CCTV cameras, one oustide and  the other inside, at Bothra’s. They  have circulated the pictures of the thieves to other police stations across the city.

Rajendra Tendulkar, assistant inspector of Khar police station said, “In the CCTV footage, the faces of two thieves can be seen, while those of the other are blurred.”

Tendulkar added, “The men seem to be professional house-breakers as they executed the entire crime in just 20 minutes.”