Cops chase thief, catch him in Mahim with Rs 2.7L cash, Mahavir's silver idol

Two government railway police (GRP) personnel gave chase and nabbed a thief, while he was trying to escape with a stolen silver idol of Lord Mahavir weighing 250 gms and Rs2.70 lakh in cash, at Mahim railway station in the early hours of Thursday. However, his accomplice managed to flee.

“The thief has been identified as Rajesh Kadam, 28, a resident of Mahim slum colony, while his accomplice has been identified as Ajay ( full name not known),” said Rajendra Trivedi, senior inspector of Mahim GRP station.

During interrogation, Kadam revealed that he and his accomplice used a sophisticated spanner to break into Rajasthan Plastic Industries at Laxmi Industrial Estate in Mahim in the early hours of Thursday. Once inside, they stole cash and a silver idol of Lord Mahavir, after which they went to Mahim station at 4.30am to catch a local train.

On finding them suspicious, some commuters shouted out, alerting the two constables, Sangram Mulamwar and Hairbhau Runar. When the constables approached the burglars, Ajay threw a chopper at them. However, both the policemen ducked and threw their lathis at the thieves. While the constables managed to nab Kadam with the stolen cash and idol, Ajay escaped in the melee.

The GRP contacted Ashok Jain, owner of Rajasthan Plastic Industries, who confirmed that the idol and cash belonged to him. Jain later lodged a complaint of burglary against Kadam and his accomplice at Mahim police station.

Trivedi said both the constables were given a Rs5,000 reward by the Mumbai GRP police commissioner Prabhat Kumar.