Renting stalls to sell juicy mangoes may be a seasonal business for many, but it also could be a ruse by criminals to clean out valuables from shops in the vicinity, the police have told jewellers from across Maharashtra. The alert comes against the backdrop of a recent crime in Pune, where crooks rented a space next to a jewellery shop and cleaned out valuables worth Rs 1.25 crore.
The burglars, known as the Jharkhand gang, become active during the summer months, said police officers. Police sources said the gang members, mostly from Sahibganj district of the eastern state, reach Mumbai in January or February.
The burglars entered the jewellery shop after drilling a hole into a wall behind a shelf
“After months of groundwork, they rent a shop near a jewellery store using forged documents,” said a Crime Branch officer attached to Mumbai police.
“Most of these young burglars maintain an athlete-like physique and remain slim so that they can pass through a narrow hole into jewellery shops. In some cases, they change their get-up by growing a moustache, beard and long hair. They wear loose clothes to avoid getting detected. Some of them also wear a cap so that their face can’t be easily captured in CCTV cameras,” said a Crime Branch officer attached to the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police.
Anand Verma, owner of Mauli Jewellery, Pune
A few police officers said the gang members were inactive in the last two years but they are back in action after the pandemic threat subsided. “Our workload has increased…,” said a Mumbai police officer.
Surprise checks by police
The city cops are keeping a close eye on mango sellers who have rented spaces in recent weeks. “All the mango selling stalls near jewellery shops in Mumbai are under scanner. We are conducting surprise checks at their shops to check if they are digging out any tunnel, breaking any wall to sneak or making any changes in the design,” said a Crime Branch officer attached to the Thane police.
‘Mango sellers’ had targeted this Thane jewellery shop some time ago. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
“The burglars make a tunnel to sneak into the targeted location, be it a jewellery shop or a bank. They use all sorts of equipment to dig the tunnel and the debris is stored in gunny bags, packed in wooden crates and transported in vehicles so that no one doubts what they are carrying,” the officer added.
Since most of these burglars have grown up together, they work as a close-knit unit, said the officer. “Once a tunnel is dug out or a hole is drilled into the wall of the strong room of a bank or a jewellery shop, the Jharkhand gang hires gas cutters to open vaults,” he said.
A screengrab from CCTV footage shows a burglar walking away with gold jewllery from a Pune store on March 25
Hideouts along Ganga
City cops said if they manage to reach the burglars’ villages, nabbing them is next to impossible. “They live in Radhanagar, Rajmahal and Uddhwa of Sahibganj district of Jharkhand. And when they learn that a police team has arrived to arrest them, they take shelter in their hideouts made on islands in the river. It is very dangerous to enter the area as visiting cops are not familiar with it,” added another Crime Branch officer.
Gone in 35 minutes
In the latest crime, a gang first rented a stall next to Mauli Jewellery shop at Ganpati Matha, NDA Road at Warje Malwadi in Pune. Last month, they stole gold jewellery from the shop. While the person had rented the shop to sell spices, cops suspect, the nature of the crime points to the involvement of the Jharkhand gang.
Anand Verma, the owner of the Pune shop, said the stall had been rented just a week before the crime. Verma said the tenant paid Rs 20,000 to the shop owner. “He didn’t sign the agreement, saying he first wanted to make shelves inside. He called 2-3 labourers and started carpentry work which would go on from morning to evening. I used to keep my shop closed between 2 pm and 4 pm for lunch and household work.”
The jeweller said, “On March 25, they broke the wall behind the shelves and looted jewellery worth Rs 1.25 crore. This is a big loss due to the shop owner who rented out his shop without doing any agreement and police verification. I have many loans.”
A Crime Branch officer from Pune said, “The gang used hand gloves, gas cutters and equipment used by professionals to commit the crime. The robbery happened in just 35 minutes and it was recorded by the CCTV cameras of the jewellery shop.”
Awareness efforts on
A similar crime had been committed at the Thane-based Varimata Gold Jewellery shop where gold jewellery worth Rs 1.37 crore was burgled. In this few people had rented an adjacent shop to sell mangoes. The Navi Mumbai police arrested those involved and recovered the jewellery.
An officer told mid-day, “After the Pune incident, we alerted every jeweller in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai that these gangs are now active across Maharashtra. These gangs are not only posing as mango sellers but also renting shops to sell things masala and furniture. We are urging shop owners not to give their shop on rent to unknown people and without any agreement and police verification.”
Mumbai police’s Joint CP (Law and Order) Vishwas Nangre Patil said, “We have activated our intelligence machinery and we have also enhanced electronic surveillance in the city. Above all, an elaborate arrangement has been made to increase the patrolling so that each and every corner of Mumbai will be covered.”
“Also, all the zonal DCPs have been asked to conduct the meetings with jewellers in their area so that burglars under the garb of mango sellers near jewellery shops are identified,” Patil told mid-day.
Association at work, too
The national spokesperson of the India Bullion and Jewellers Association, Kumar Jain, said, “The summer season has started and we have already instructed all jewellery shop owners to be alert over mango sellers renting shops next to them.” Jain added, “We have instructed them to talk with the owners of their neighbouring shops and request them not to give their shops on rent to mango sellers. We have told them to inform the police if any new shop starts at the neighbouring unit and find out if their police verification is done or not.”
Rs 1.37cr
Value of jewellery looted from the Thane store
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