With Diwali right around the corner, Mumbaikars who are hiring domestic workers through online platforms for a Diwali cleaning, need to stay alert. The Malad Police busted a gang who have allegedly robbed people under the guise of providing cleaning services.
[popcorn number="Rs 12L" desc="Approximate value of the valuables stolen from the home" class="Default"]
The professional home-cleaning service was stealing valuables from customers’ homes. Three accused have been arrested, and police have recovered nearly 11 tolas of gold.
How the theft was executed
The incident took place on October 26 at the residence of a 52-year-old woman, who lives with her family at Falcon Tower in Malad West. The woman booked a house-cleaning service through an online platform, on October 25. According to the complaint, four workers arrived at the flat around 10 am the next day and locked themselves in the master bedroom under the pretext of spraying chemicals.
At around 11.30 am, after completing the bedroom cleaning, one of the workers left on the pretext of buying vada pav, returning 15 minutes later. The workers allegedly completed the remaining work in a hurry and left the house around 1.30 pm, promising to return the next day to complete the remaining work.
It was on October 28, that the family discovered that valuables from the bedroom cupboard were missing. The stolen property included a 50-gram gold necklace, a 10-gram mangalsutra, a 50-gram gold biscuit and 500 grams of silver coins, collectively valued at approximately Rs 12 lakh. Following the complaint, Malad Police registered an FIR and launched an investigation. Three arrested; alleged mastermind has criminal antecedents.
The Malad Police detection team arrested two accused within a day of the FIR being registered. The third accused, identified as Pawan Dhivar (26), was arrested subsequently on Friday. The other arrested accused have been identified as Satyam Shukla (18) and Anish Chaurasiya (19) and are in police custody.
“These accused had been working with the online cleaning company since June this year. Dhivar is suspected to be the mastermind who planned and executed the theft. He allegedly has criminal antecedents, ”said an officer. “Dhivar is suspected to have played a key role in planning and executing the theft. We are verifying his criminal records,” the officer says. “Nearly 11 tolas of gold have been recovered from the accused,” he added.
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