Cops at doorstep, theft suspect warns wife to ‘keep shut’, gives himself away

Mumbai: A theft accused has been arrested from his Khar home nearly three weeks after he allegedly stole gold ornaments worth Rs 8.73 lakh from Andheri. What left cops at his doorstep stunned was that the accused, Nisar Shaikh (39), warned his wife in front of the cops to keep her mouth shut about the theft. In this, the cops were sure they had the right man they were looking for. The booty was squirrelled away in the wife's scooty.
Early Oct 5, the accused drove away in a rickshaw parked near his slum rehab building in Khar. He drove to Pump House, Andheri (E), and broke into a house in the dead of night, three people in the home unaware of the thief in the lower storey of the home. The theft came to light the next day -- valuables were missing from the cupboard.
A complaint was lodged at MIDC police station. Cops scanned CCTV footage in the area and zeroed in on a rickshaw that "raised suspicion". It was parked near the place where the theft took place. Going by its registration seen in footage, cops reached the vehicle owner who initially suspected his driver. The finger of suspicion further pointed to the driver as he had left for his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. However, a check showed the rickshaw driver's phone location in the northern state. The cops then analysed phone data of over 1,000 users who were around Pump House, Andheri (east), that morning. That's where they zeroed in on Shaikh who has a history of 47 crime cases.
When a police team led by assistant inspector Yash Palwe arrived at his home on Oct 24, the accused brazenly instructed his wife to keep her mouth shut. The wife, however, led the cops to her scooty. Stolen ornaments worth Rs 7.83 lakhwere found. The accused later told cops that he told his wife to keep mum as he "had put in much effort to steal and would require money for bail and then after release". The rickshaw he had driven away in was returned to the spot from where he had taken it.
DCP Sachin Gunjal supervised the investigation team of ACP Shashikant Bhosale, senior inspector Prataprao Kadam, assistant inspector Yash Palwe, and detection staff.