25-year-old held for burgling Congress leader’s Worli flat

Officers of the Mumbai crime branch have arrested the person who had broken into the Worli residence of former minister and Congress leader Rohidas Patil in September last year. The accused had stolen a pistol, a revolver and cash and ornaments worth Rs17.30 lakh from the house.

The arrested person has been identified as Salim Fazl-e-Elahi alias Sameer, 25, a resident of West Midnapur in West Bengal.

According to the police, Patil was in Dhule between August 28 and September 2. On returning, the family realised that someone had broken into its third-floor residence in Poorna Building on Sir Pochkanwala Road in Worli. Patil’s son Vinay had lodged a complaint with the Worli police station.

“The accused had climbed up to the third floor and broken the window grill to enter the house. He then decamped with a pistol, a revolver and cash and ornaments worth Rs17.30 lakh from the house,” said a crime branch official, requesting anonymity.

He added that unit 3 of the crime branch was conducting parallel investigations into the case. “On receipt of specific information, our team went to West Bengal and arrested Sameer on January 22. He was brought to the city on Tuesday and has been remanded in police custody till January 31 by a local court,” the official said.

The police are yet to make recovery in the case. “We are investigating why he stole the pistol and revolver from the house. We will also interrogate him to find out where he has kept the cash and ornaments or if he has sold them,” said the official.