In yet another case of crime, a 24-year-old woman was arrested for stealing a variety of things including 200 purses from BEST bus commuters. She would make anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 10,000 every day by stealing in the past year.
Senior inspector DB Thorat said the accused, Sufiya Imran Shaikh, was arrested on May 7 and was remanded in police custody till May 12. Police raided Shaikh’s residence in Chikuwadi, Mankhurd and found her husband and three children were entirely dependent on her activities for their maintenance, reported Hindustan Times.
They (police) found 200 ladies purses, 96 ATM cards, 52 Aadhar cards, 45 PAN cards, 56 pocket cards and much more from Shaikh’s residence.
Sufiya’s family also appointed a woman to take care of her children while she would be away every day. “Our staff found a suitcase containing 200 ladies purses, 96 ATM cards, 52 PAN cards, 21 election cards, 56 shopping cards, 23 BEST bus passes, 13 driving licenses, 4 railway passes, 7 passbooks and 7,000 cash,” said Tukaram Dighe, sub-inspector, Shahunagar police station.
Sufiya purportedly told the police that she used to sell flowers at the Dadar flower market daily, “She used to stay till 11am in the market, targeting women coming from the Dadar station to the market. She would then board a bus from the Plaza to Chembur and take advantage of the crowd on the bus. Mostly she targeted women and never threw the stolen purses,” said an officer investigating the case.
Sufiya’s activities came to light when Sanjay Chunchikurve, a Shahunagar resident, on April 10, complained about the theft of his wife’s purse on a BEST bus. “Seven transactions were made by Sufiyaat different ATMs. She used the password which was written on the card itself,” said the officer. CCTV cameras inside ATMs captured Sufiya and the police traced the route she used to withdraw cash and found her.