On wedding day, thief’s family urges cops to delay arrest; he surrenders within days

The cops worked out on his location in the Badlapur West area in the Thane district in Maharashtra. They also found the accused hails from Bhulaipur village in the Jaunpur district in UP.

A team reached his house in Bhulaipur village about two weeks ago. The house was buzzing with wedding-related preparation as the groom got ready ahead of the marriage procession surrounded by his family members and friends.

Chandan’s father Anil Kumar and other family members requested the cops to allow them a few days’ time. After getting consent from the higher-ups of the Surat Police, the team allowed them to continue with rituals and returned to Surat. On Sunday evening, Chandan surrendered. He was arrested in the theft case late at night. On Monday, he was produced before a Surat court for police remand. The court granted police remand till Wednesday.

Sources said the theft incident took place on March 1, 2017, when a gang of five members entered into a warehouse that stocks electronic items and mobile phones.
The accused fled with 117 mobile phones, a laptop, and a camera – all amounting to Rs. 14.98 lakh, officials said. A complaint was registered with Sachin police station by warehouse manager Parth Bipin Patel.

Bagmar said, “Five accused were mentioned in the theft complaint. Our team worked on a lead and reached Chandan’s house. On humanitarian grounds, we allowed our teams to allow him to complete marriage rituals after taking assurance from his family members. We also checked and found he has no other criminal background. The accused stuck to his words. We will dig out more information from him to arrest the other accused involved in the theft case.”

“Dhirendra, an auto driver, hatched the plan to commit theft in the warehouse. He hails from the Jaunpur district in UP and he had gathered four youths from his native place to commit the theft. He had invited these youths to Surat and accommodated them for a couple of days to recce the location and later they committed theft of mobile phones and other items. We have also checked and found that Chandan was staying with his parents in the Badlapur area in Thane district and works with them in a furniture workshop. We will also dig out information of where are stolen mobile phones, camera, and laptop,” he added.