Girlfriend's image in cellphone lands thieves behind bars

A gang of thieves operating in Thane district and Navi Mumbai was arrested by the Mira Road police after they traced the gang members through the image of a woman in a cellphone found at the shop which the gang had burgled.

The police identified the woman in the picture as one working in an orchestra bar and using this clue identified the accused. The woman turned out to be the girlfriend of one of the gang members.

According to the police, last month a burglary was reported at a garment shop in Shanti Nagar, Mira Road. The police found a cellphone there that did not belong to the shop owner or any of the employees. In the photo gallery, they found the picture of a woman along with a man. The woman was later identified as one working with an orchestra bar. When the police questioned her, she revealed the address of the man, and subsequently they arrested Deepak Gaikwad (24) from Nalasopara. He confessed to the crime and led the police to the other gang members—Hasan Shaikh (23), Mayur Jadhav (26), Hrishikesh Berde (27), Manish Sharma (28), Aniketh Vishwakarma (23), Akram Khan (29), Iliaz Salman (28) and Fuzul Khan (25).

"The gang operated early in the mornings. They would board trains from different locations after having done a recce. They targeted shops which do not have CCTV cameras. They are involved in 11 cases of robbery. They were arrested under relevant IPC sections and produced at the Thane court which remanded them in police custody," said Suhas Bawache, deputy superintendent of police, Thane Rural.