An aspiring guitarist, singer and photographer, who had auditioned for several singing reality shows without any success, was recently arrested for allegedly stealing a DSLR camera and lenses worth ₹6.5 lakh from a photo studio in Seawoods to make professional videos for his social media accounts.
He was remanded in judicial custody, and was later granted bail by the court.
Auditioned for shows
Mohammed Imran alias Sherjung Siddiqui (24) came to Navi Mumbai around a year ago to make a living and joined Imax Photo Studio in Seawoods, where he worked as an office boy and learnt basic photography. He created YouTube and Instagram accounts and started posting his guitar performances and songs. He also auditioned for several reality music shows, but did not make it into any.
On October 14, 2018, he and the studio’s photographer had gone for an outdoor shoot. On returning, the photographer stepped out for some snacks and asked Mr. Siddiqui to stay at the studio. Mr. Siddiqui ran off with the camera bag containing a DSLR camera and two lenses, together worth ₹6.5 lakh, the police said.
A case was registered with the NRI coastal police station, and was later transferred to the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch, Central Unit.
Meanwhile, Mr. Siddiqui changed his phone number, but continued posting new videos and photos taken using the stolen camera.
“With the help of technical evidence, we traced his location to Nagina village in Mewat, Haryana. We were warned by the Delhi Police that the village was notorious for not entertaining any outside police officers. A month-and-a-half ago, police officers from Ahmednagar had visited the village to arrest someone, and the villagers had attacked them. The local police fired shots, and a villager died. The villagers did not claim the body for 20 days till an FIR was registered against the police officer concerned,” senior police inspector Jagdish Kulkarni from the Crime Branch Central Unit said.
Last week, when police sub-inspector Yogesh Deshmukh and three constables visited the village to nab Mr. Siddiqui, around 400 villagers surrounded them and blocked their entry. The next day, they again tried to enter the village, reasoning with the villagers to let them take Mr. Siddiqui, and warning them that if they objected, a case could be filed against them as well. They were finally able to convince the villagers, and nabbed Mr. Siddiqui and brought him to Navi Mumbai.
Self-taught musician
A Crime Branch officer said, “Mr. Siddiqui’s family never knew that he was fond of music, as it is frowned upon as per their faith. He turned out to be a ‘secret superstar’ for them. Until we showed them his posts and videos, they had not seen them. He learnt to play the guitar and to sing by watching YouTube videos, and wanted a professional camera to record himself, which led him to commit the crime.”
