2 women from Patna held for stealing from shoppers in malls

The two accused are Deepanjali Bablu Tiwari (30) and Soumya Rajkumar Mishra (29). Tiwari is married to an auto-rickshaw driver and has two children, while Mishra’s husband is an alcoholic and is unemployed. She also has two children.

The two claimed to have taken to crime to feed their families as their husbands’ jobs were affected due to the pandemic-induced lockdown.

The two came to Mumbai by flight on August 4 and went to Elco market in Bandra and stole a handbag from a woman who came to shop there.

“The modus operandi opted by the two was that one would push their targets and divert their attention while in the meantime the second woman would flick the target’s handbag,” an investigator said.

Police said that they targeted another woman at Elco market on August 5. The complainant said that she lost cash and valuables worth Rs 1.3 lakh. Two separate cases were registered for both instances. While the Bandra police were probing these two matters they came to know that on August 6, the duo robbed a third woman at Dadar market.

“We managed to get their images on the CCTV footage from the Elco market. While we were scrutinising their movements, we understood that they were going to arrive at Elco market in the afternoon on August 7,” said another officer. Accordingly, a team laid a trap.

The police caught them in action in the Elco market while they were targeting another woman. Police then went to the three-star hotel in Andheri where the two accused were staying and recovered the valuables that the duo had stolen on August 4, 5 and 6.

“They had booked a return ticket to Patna of August 7 and they were about to leave the city at night by bus. Fortunately, we managed to catch them in the afternoon on August 7,” an officer said.