Thief who ‘used monkey mask, underwear’ as his disguises arrested

Pune Rural police had registered back to back thefts in temples in Ambegaon, Shirur, Shikrapur, Ranjangaon and Khed between February and July earlier this year.

In these thefts, gold and silver ornaments from the temples’ sanctum sanctorum, cash from donation boxes, heavy brass lamps and bells and music systems were stolen.

“Although the monetary value of the stolen items was not very high, these cases were highly sensitive due to the deep emotional significance these temples have for the local community,” said Pankaj Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police for Pune Rural.

A team from Pargaon Karkhana police station looked into security camera footage from various temples that had been targeted. Their probe revealed that one suspect, in different appearances, was involved in multiple cases. With inputs from confidential informants, the suspect was identified as Vinayak Damu Jite (32), a resident of Kanhur Mesai in Shirur, who had been in prison in a case of armed robbery till February earlier this year. Jite was placed under arrest by a team from Pargaon Karkhana police station on July 31.

The details of the arrest were shared with the media after the subsequent investigation, which revealed startling details.

“The probe revealed that Jite is behind as many as 11 temple thefts — nine from Pune Rural and two from Ahmednagar district — reported between February and July. During his imprisonment in a case of armed robbery, he had learnt some key tricks of the trade from other inmates. He has changed his appearance, clothes and looks for each of these cases. In some cases he is seen wearing a monkey mask. In some others he is wearing just underwear and a cloth covering his face. He had conducted a recce of these temples during the day and struck in the early hours. He stole anything and everything that can be sold. Gold and silver valuables of deities, heavy brass lamps and bells, cash from donation boxes and even amplifiers of music systems, a total of items worth Rs four lakh has been recovered from him.” said an officer who is part of the probe.

SP Pankaj Deshmukh further said, “We are making an appeal to temples across the villages and towns in Pune Rural jurisdiction to install CCTV cameras on their premises and make sure that areas where valuables are kept as well as entries and exits are covered.”