136 thefts in just 1 day at Lalbaugcha Raja

MUMBAI: Around 136 devotees who visited Lalbaugcha Raja —the most popular pandal—during Sunday’s visarjan were robbed, 86 of them of their mobile phones and wallets and the rest of their gold chains and mangalsutras, said sources.
During the 10-day Ganeshotsav, around 200 devotees who had come to visit pandals from all corners of the city and even far-off Jalna, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Ahmedanagar lost their phones and wallets.So far, Nagpada police have arrested five accused and recovered 12 phones stolen from various pandals.
On Monday, when TOI visited Kalachowkie police station, under whose jurisdiction Lalbaugcha Raja mandal falls, several victims had queued up to register lost article complaints. “I had come with my daughter Manisha from Juhu to pay my respects to Lalbaugcha Raja when suddenly in the crowd she realized that her iPhone 8 had gone missing,” said S N Sinha, an advocate who practises in Patna high court.
“I lost my new Samsung Note 9 phone when I was carrying my two kids on my shoulders,” said Subhas Joshi, who is in transport business. Sudesh Shah, who lost his wallet containing PAN and Aadhaar cards, driving licence, a credit card and Rs 1,800, said. “Cash is not an issue. My only worry is that the documents should not be misused.”
Officials at D B Marg, V P Road and Gamdevi police stations have nabbed a few cellphone thieves. A senior police official said, “Our teams are scanning CCTV footage to identify the accused.”