Pune: Burglar caught by society residents after hot chase

PUNE: Minutes after a gang of burglars broke into a flat at Vidyaniketan housing society at Undri on Thursday and stole cash and ornaments worth Rs 8.66 lakh, residents caught one of them after a hot chase.
Nazim Ansari, a criminal-on-record, was caught with a part of the loot worth Rs2.25 lakh and handed over to the police by the residents. Kondhwa police are on the lookout for Ansari’s two accomplices who are on the run.
The flat owner, Sameer Shaikh (43), has lodged an FIR under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Shaikh told TOI, “I was in my garage at Bhavani Peth. My wife had gone out to fetch my son from school at Sayyednagar. Most resident of the society had gone to a neighbouring building to attend a meeting on water scarcity. The burglars took advantage of the situation and struck at my flat on the first floor after finding the door locked.”
He said that burglars broke into his flat after breaking open the door lock with a sharp weapon. “They stole gold and silver ornaments and cash worth Rs Rs8.66 lakh from the cupboard safe and took to heels,” Shaikh said.
“My neighbour Vijay Chavan heard noise of locks being broken from inside the flat and then spotted the burglars leaving the flat. Chavan alerted his friend Ganesh Raut who rushed to the society. On seeing them, the panicked burglars ran helter-skelter, but my neighbours chased and nabbed Ansari with a bag at Undri Chowk and handed him over to the police,” he said.
Ganesh Raut told TOI, “I was riding a motorcycle when I entered the society and saw Chavan raising an alarm and chasing the burglars. I too gave them a chase and pelted stones at them, but they escaped in a waiting autorickshaw. I chased the rickshaw and intercepted it at Undri Chowk. Though two burglars manage to flee, we caught Ansari and handed him over to the police.”
“Ansari has revealed the names of his accomplices to the police. I have requested our building residents to form a society, appoint trained security guards and install CCTV cameras,” Shaikh said.
Sub-inspector Santosh Shinde from Kondhwa police said, “Ansari is a criminal-on-record. We have recovered part of the stolen loot and some weapons from him. He will remain in police custody till March 2. We are working on certain clues and hope to arrest his two aides at the earliest.”