The Vashi police have registered a theft case against three undertrials in a murder case for allegedly planning a break-in, in which evidence pertaining to the murder case was stolen.
The Vashi police said Suresh Bijlani, Anurag Garg and Emanuel Amolick, who are accused of killing Sunil Lahoria, hatched a plan in jail to steal audio and video files locked safely inside the office of Lahoria’s son, Sandeep. The files had evidence of the death threats Mr. Garg had issued to Lahoria before his murder.
According to the police, the theft occurred at the office at Sector 28 in Vashi between 7 p.m. on Tuesday and 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Mr. Sandeep, the complainant, said when his staff members opened the office at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, they found that the lock of his cabin had been broken and the items inside were scattered.
Mr. Sandeep said, “On reaching office, I realised that the audio and video evidence pertaining to my father’s murder case were stolen. They were saved in a hard disk and I was supposed to submit it to the police as evidence during the trial on Friday. Besides, ₹10 lakh in cash was stolen.”
Mr. Sandeep said the thieves entered the office from the first floor after cutting the window grille. He said, “I do have the copy of the clips, but once the hard disk is stolen its evidential value reduces. Papers of the trial have also been stolen. All material related to Mr. Garg has been stolen. The thieves surprisingly left all expensive items like an Apple MacBook, cell phones, shades and a watch. This shows that the theft was done with the intention of taking away the hard disk and other evidence. I had written a letter to the Crime Branch on October 15, for submitting the evidence.”
Police inspector Sanjeev Dhumal said, “The complainant has alleged that the theft was planned by the three accused in jail. Due to prior enmity, the complainant doubts the trio planned the theft from jail. Accordingly, we have registered a case. We can reach a conclusion only in the course of the investigation.”
