Thane: On Monday, Thane Police cracked the Krishna temple theft case, arresting six burglars, including a woman, within eight hours of the crime on Sunday, the eve of Janmashtami. Police formed two teams which probed this case on high priority because the robbery had occurred on the eve of Janmashtami and was considered shameful. Devotees had questioned Thane Police for not being vigilant.
The arrested accused have been identified as Santosh Kamble, 26, Rekha Kamble, 21, Arun Sonkar, 19, Shankar Khan, 25, Jhulfikar Mansuri, 22, and Azad Shah,19. They are all residents of Diva and Mumbra. Police said a complaint was filed by the temple priest after he saw the lock broken, the temple door open and found jewellery missing on Sunday morning around 6.30 am.
According to Senior Police Inspector, Ravindra Malekar, Thane Nagar police station, “During investigation, we made a list of recently-released inmates, in which the name of Santosh Kamble cropped up. We obtained CCTV footage of the area, in which Kamble was spotted. His face was not clearly visible. We then tracked down his residential address. One of his friends, a resident of Thane, came to the police station and showed his photo, which confirmed his identity,” said Malekar.
The police then immediately rushed to Mahape and on Kalamboli Road, found an Omni car, in which Santosh, Arun and Jhulfikar were seated. On being questioned, they told police they had purchased the car for Rs 2 lakh. Police decided to search the car and found Rs 2 lakh in cash. After being questioned, the trio admitted to committing the robbery. Thereafter, police reached Kamble’s Diva house and found the ornaments and cash. Police seized gold and silver necklaces, bangles and plates worth Rs38,50,000, Rs4,20,000 cash, an Omni vehicle and 6,750 coins from their possession. The police said Santosh Kamble had been released from jail six months ago after serving time for a house break-in.”
Santosh’s wife Rekha is also an accomplice. She recced places for future break-ins, police said. They were produced in court and remanded in police custody.