Pune beat

Alert cops nab jewel thief
Alertness on the part of a head constable of Faraskhana police station led to the arrest of a jewel thief and the recovery of jewels worth Rs 1,52,320 from him.

According to the police, head constable Dattatreya Bhilare and police constable Adinath Wakse were on patrol near Sonya Maruti chowk on Friday when they came upon a suspicious looking character. When the two challenged him, he tried to escape but was soon overpowered.

During questioning, he revealed that he was Mangesh Eknath Deshmukh, residing at Vishwanath Lodge in Kasba Peth. The police immediately searched the room and discovered the booty. According to the police, Deshmukh used to stay at the lodge under the pseudonym of Mahesh Suryakant Desai.

He had been operating on trains during the night and would target passengers on trains bound for Karjat, Sangli, Solapur, Miraj and other places.