Odisha duo’s burgling spree ends

They observed layout, security of restaurants, shops in Bandra, Khar, Andheri and Malad for nearly a year

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested two persons who had allegedly worked for short periods in several upscale bars and restaurants over the last one year to get a sense of their layout and security, and then started burgling them over the last one month.

Questioning

According to Crime Branch officials, the arrests were made based on a tip-off received by the Unit IX, according to which two burglars were staying in a rented room in Adarsh Nagar in Oshiwara. A team picked up the duo for questioning, and they allegedly confessed to have committed a string of burglaries.

The accused, identified as Santosh Nayak (22) and Paresh Soren (23), are from Odisha and have studied up to junior college, after which they dropped out. The accused came to Mumbai around a year ago looking for jobs, and first got jobs as waiters in a restaurant and bar in the western suburbs.

“While working in the hotel, they observed the layout and security arrangements for days, including the number of CCTV cameras, whether the hotel had watchmen at night, and the best points of entry. Further, they identified shops around those hotels which could be easily forced open so that they could burgle those as well,” said a Crime Branch officer.

List of targets

The officer said after working for one to one-and-a-half month at hotels in Bandra, Khar, Andheri and Malad for nearly a year, the duo drew up a list of their targets and the security measures in each of them, after which they began their burgling spree in the first week of April.

“The duo have in the confession said that they have burgled four hotels and nine shops around these hotels, and have stolen batteries from autorickshaws parked at night. Their last burglary was in Carter Blue hotel in Khar, from where they stole ₹9.5 lakh in cash. We have recovered ₹6.5 lakh from them, while the rest of it was spent on expensive clothes and accessories,” another officer said.

The duo were arrested on Monday morning, and the Crime Branch will be handing them over to the Khar police. The Malad and the Versova police will also be seeking their custody.

Crime Branch officials said Mr. Nayak, who is suspected to have been the mastermind, is a smooth talker and speaks English well, enabling him to secure jobs for himself and Mr. Soren.