Solving Crime: How a Mumbai police team posed as baraati to nab the uncle of the bride

As Devkar allegedly entered the house using a duplicate set of keys, the investigators suspected an insider’s role. The businessman’s driver, identified as Pradeep Kanade, was brought in for questioning and during the course of interrogation, he allegedly confessed to handing the house keys over to Devkar.

Four relatives of Devkar, identified as Rahul Kuradkar, Manish Parab, Bhushan Pawar and Mangala Kuradkar, were also arrested as they had benefited from the crime, the police said. But Devkar remained at large. He kept changing his location and moved to Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, the police said.

“As he was the main culprit, we kept looking for him and later we decided to cultivate a source in his hometown,” an investigator said, adding, “An informer from Yavatmal reached out to us in the first week of May and said that Devkar’s niece was going to tie the knot on May 15 and he would definitely be present at her wedding ceremony.”

A police team comprising Assistant Police Inspectors Ramkrishna Sagade and Bhagwan Paygan, and constables Data Shinde, Ajit Mahadik, Mahesh Kolte, Durga Kolte and Manish More decided to leave for Yavatmal. Midway, they planned to attend the wedding and catch Devkar off guard during the ceremony.

“This was the first in 14 months that we had received concrete information on Devkar and we did not want to let him go,” an officer said.

The police team left no stone unturned in their efforts to pose as wedding guests. As soon as they reached Yavatmal, they went shopping and bought new kurta pyjamas, turbans and sunglasses. “To avoid any kind of suspicion, we even gifted envelopes with cash to them,” an officer said.

The wedding was held in the hall of a primary school at Darwha Taluka in Yavatmal. The Dadar police team sought help from the local police station and ensured their men were stationed around the venue. Between 10 and 11 am, the investigators identified Devkar and after verifying his identity, one of the policemen approached him and asked him to come with him.

“We told him that we have some wedding-related work. We took him outside and forced him to sit in our car,” said an officer.

Devkar was then taken to the local police station in Yavatmal and after completing formalities, he was brought to Dadar police station in Mumbai, where he was placed under arrest.

During questioning, Devkar allegedly revealed that he had spent all the cash that he had stolen. “He stayed in different hotels while he was in hiding. He also liked going to dance bars and spent some money there,” an officer said.

Devkar, who has a criminal history, is currently lodged in jail.