11 thefts solved, valuables worth `7 lakh recovered

The Navi Mumbai crime branch (unit 2) claims to have solved as many as eleven burglaries with the arrest of one habitual offender from Panvel. They have also recovered valuables worth Rs 6.85 lakh from his possession.

Acting on a tip-off, the police recently detained Santosh Dhangon, 30, who stayed in a slum in Panvel.

One gold mangalsutra was recovered from his possession.

“During investigation, we learnt that the mangalsutra was stolen from a house in Cidco colony in New Panvel,” said Dilip Sawant, deputy commissioner of police (crime).

“The accused also confessed to the theft. We then registered a case under section 454, 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against him at Khandeshwar police station,” he said.

The police later learnt that the accused was involved not only in one but in as many as eleven burglaries registered with Kopar Khairane, Kalamboli, Panvel, Uran and Nerul police stations.

“We have recovered 190 grams gold jewellery, two laptops, ten mobile phones and Rs16,000 in cash from his hideouts. His accomplices are still at large and we are now searching for them. They will be in our custody soon,” Sawant said.

According to Sawant, 116 of 245 burglaries registered this

year have been detected so far.

A majority of the cases were solved by the crime branch.

“The biggest problem in reducing such crimes is that several housing societies do not have security guards. So there is no one to monitor who is entering or going out of their premises,” he said.

“Culprits are targeting the locked houses taking advantage of this situation,” he said.

“Likewise, very few housing societies have installed CCTV cameras on their premises. Therefore, the police hardly get any clue when the thieves run away stealing valuables from houses,” he added.