Two friends steal gold, pledge for loans to fund bikes, car, gaming

Panaji: One-of-a-kind cases saw two friends involved in alleged multiple theft cases in Pernem taluka obtain loans on gold stolen from financial institutions and nationalised banks to buy clothes, bikes, a car, and spend money on online gaming.Pernem police on Tuesday arrested 29-year-old Rohan Padwal, a Pernem resident, and 20-year-old Jagannatha alias Ketan Bagkar, a Colvale resident, and recovered stolen items, including gold ornaments worth Rs 53 lakh, DySP (Pernem) Salim Shaikh said.Shaikh said that both were involved in 11 theft cases in Pernem taluka. He said that after committing a theft, both the accused used to go to financial institutions and banks and get a loan on the stolen gold.Both the accused committed a series of day burglaries in the Pernem, Dhargalim, Virnoda, Tuem, and Korgao areas from Dec 2024.“Financial institutions used to provide 70% value on the stolen gold. Every time they committed theft, they used to go to the bank and financial institution to top up their loan,” Shaikh said. He said that they never repaid their existing loan, yet financial institutions gave them fresh loans on the new stolen gold.The DySP said that the boys were so smart that they used to colour the bike used in the theft case every 15 days and used forged number plates with small handwriting so that they were not caught by CCTV cameras.Shaikh said that Bagkar, who studies in ITI, and his friend used to plan theft on his holiday. “Both never went together to survey the area before committing theft to avoid getting caught. Both committed theft between 10am and 1pm. One friend used to enter the house while the other used to stay outside to check in case some member of the house arrived,” the DySP said.Shaikh said that both used to come to a secluded place with different bikes, and from there they used to travel on a single bike. “After committing theft, they used to change their clothes and leave the spot so that they were not traceable,” he said.The DySP said that they were inspired by movies to commit thefts.