3 cloth traders in Mumbai held for theft of sarees worth Rs 16 lakh from shop; 80 sarees recovered

The police arrested the men identified as Santosh Sakharam Mandwalkar, 48, Anil Katchunge, 49, and Sandeep Sakharam Sherekar, 37, based on the complaint of businessman and shop owner Sanjay Kumar Ramanuj Pandey on October 4.

The complainant told the police that as he was unwell his shop remained shut from September 26 to October 3 and the theft came to light on October 4. He suspected that the theft had taken place during that period.

“After sustained interrogation, the three arrested confessed to the crime. We are trying to ascertain the exact reason for the crime as personal rivalry with the complainant looks like a probable reason,” said an officer, adding that the police are trying to recover the remaining sarees that were stolen.

The three are also into similar businesses as they either work as cloth agents or are saree merchants, the police said. The three were produced before court and remanded in police custody.

“We detained several suspects but we could not get any lead. Subsequently, on October 7, the police officials through technical analysis and informers came to know about the involvement of three cloth merchants in the crime,” the investigator said.

The LT Marg police have registered a case under sections 454 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment), 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) and 380 (theft in a dwelling house etc) of the Indian Penal Code.

During investigation, assistant police inspector Rahul Bhandare and his team checked the CCTV footage of the cameras installed inside the shop and in the vicinity.