Gujarat Police nab notorious criminal from Dadar, recover valuables worth Rs 18 lakh
Gujarat Police nab notorious criminal from Dadar, recover valuables worth Rs 18 lakh Valsad (Gujarat), Oct 28 (IANS) A man accused of breaking into a bungalow in Vapi’s GIDC area and stealing gold and silver jewellery and cash worth more than Rs 32 lakh was arrested in Mumbai’s Dadar area, with the Valsad Local Crime Branch of Gujarat recovering property worth Rs 18.28 lakh, police said on Wednesday.
The burglary took place on the night of October 24 at Bungalow No. A/4 in Vraj Co-operative Housing Society, Vraj Row House, on Chharwada Road in Vapi. According to the police, the accused cut through an iron window grille and broke a wooden window to enter a first-floor bedroom before taking jewellery weighing approximately 142.61 grams, around 900 grams of silver and Rs 12 lakh in cash from a wooden cupboard.
The total value of the stolen property was estimated at Rs 32,62,482. Vapi GIDC police registered a case under Sections 305(a) and 331(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The arrested accused has been identified as Atish alias Dancer, 38, a labourer residing in Virar East in Mumbai’s neighbouring Palghar district. Police said teams from the Valsad Local Crime Branch, its burglary squad and Vapi GIDC police station examined footage from more than 200 CCTV cameras along the route from the crime scene to Mumbai.
Investigators also examined records of people involved in similar offences and used technical analysis to identify the suspect. Acting on a tip-off received by a team led by Local Crime Branch sub-inspector J G Parmar, the police traced and arrested the accused in Dadar. He and the recovered property were subsequently handed over to Vapi GIDC police for further investigation. During questioning, the accused allegedly told investigators that he had travelled by train from Virar to Vapi around two days before the burglary.
He allegedly climbed onto the sheet-metal roof of a bungalow, approached a first-floor window, cut its iron grille with a hacksaw blade and broke the wooden window using a screwdriver before entering the house and stealing the valuables. According to the police, the accused’s modus operandi involved surveying a target area two or three days before a burglary. After familiarising himself with the surroundings, he would allegedly approach the rear of a locked house, cut through a window grille and enter the premises.
The recovered property includes three gold necklaces with earrings weighing 35.95 grams, valued at Rs 4.75 lakh; two gold bangles weighing 32.32 grams, valued at Rs 4.26 lakh; a gold chain worth Rs 1.03 lakh; diamond-studded gold earrings valued at Rs 78,000; and other gold ornaments and coins. Police also recovered a five-gram silver coin, Rs 5,48,800 in cash, two mobile phones valued at Rs 10,000, and a screwdriver and hacksaw blade allegedly used in the burglary.
The total value of the recovered items was put at Rs 18,28,780. Police list 69 cases against the accused in Gujarat and Maharashtra, including cases registered in Umargam and several Mumbai police station jurisdictions. The listed cases date from 2005 to 2026 and include allegations of theft, housebreaking, robbery and cheating, among other offences. Further investigation is being carried out by Vapi GIDC police.
