PUNE: Taking advantage of the crowd at Babu Genu Dahi Handi Mandal in Budhwar Peth during Janmashtami celebrations on Thursday, unidentified people stole gold chains totally worth Rs4.6 lakh.
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone I) Sudhir Hiremath said many people were present around the dahi handi procession when unidentified people stole chains of 11 people, including former corporator Vijay Maratkar, The thefts occurred between 8pm and 9.30pm. "We have detained some people on suspicion for questioning," Hiremath said.
Apart from Maratkar, other complainants include Nivrutti Jadhav, Rakesh Bendre, Ranjit Thakur, Mrunal Jadhav, Yuvraj Suryavanshi, Swapnil Panse, Vishwas Kalokhe, Umesh Patil, Ganesh Shivsharan and Ramesh Hande.
A police officer said, "It was so crowded near the procession that people could not move. We feel that some people might have lost their chains of some people like the participants may have fallen on the street while dancing. The thefts came to light after the conclusion of the procession, following which the aggrieved people started visiting the police station for making a complaint."
"There are closed circuit television cameras installed at the spot, but it is difficult just not possible to identity the thieves because of the crowd of onlookers and the large number of people participating in the procession," the officer added.
Two FIRs have been registered against unidentified people under the Indian Penal Code with the Vishrambaugh police station. However, no arrests have been made as yet. eom/as
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