2 minor girls caught shoplifting at mall, garments worth Rs 23,000 recovered

PUNE: Two teenaged girls from well-off families were caught red-handed on Monday morning while stealing garments worth Rs23,000 from a mall on Ganeshkhind Road.

Residents of plush housing complexes in Bavdhan, the girls had gone to the mall for purchasing garments around 11.30am on Monday. "They were there for about two hours and chose garments worth about Rs23,000 from various outlets," an officer of the Shivajinagar police said.

He said when the girls — students of a prominent college and aged about 17 years — were about to leave the mall around 1.30pm without making payment for their purchases, the facility's employees caught them. "When the mall authorities found that the girls did not pay the bills, they took them to the police station. An official of the mall lodged a complaint of theft against them," he said.

"We have booked the girls under Section 380 (theft) of IPC. They were produced before the juvenile justice board and released on bail," said the officer, adding that the girls' parents were informed about the incident.