Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Prasad Lad woke up to find an unclaimed bag placed right outside his Matunga residence on Sunday morning. The mystery only deepened when the police opened it up to find money and other valuables and was only solved when it turned out to be booty stolen from a nearby building.
According to the Matunga police, the bag was seen outside the gate of Lad’s residence by a security guard on a routine patrolling round. The guard immediately raised an alarm and the Matunga police were informed. The matter was viewed to be all the more serious as Lad had last month registered a complaint with the police, saying that he had been receiving threatening calls for two days.
The police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area, after which the bag was examined and then opened. The police found several plastic bags full of low denomination currency notes and coins, as well as an idol of Lord Ganesh and two boxes full of religious trinkets.
“Our teams fanned out in the area and started inquiries among residents in search of any clues that we could find about the bag. At the same time, a resident of a neighbouring building approached us, saying that his house had been broken into last night,” said an officer with the Matunga police station.
The resident was taken to Lad’s residence and shown the bag, and he immediately identified that the contents in the bag belonged to him. To verify his claims, the police went back with him to his residence.
“We confirmed that unknown persons had broken into his house through the bathroom window, and taken everything from one corner in the house, where he kept his religious idols and other items,” said senior police inspector Deepak Chavan, Matunga police station.
Prima facie, the police believe that the burglars were decamping with the valuables but abandoned the bag for some reason.
“This could either be because they saw someone approach and didn’t want to risk being caught with the valuables, or because they examined the stolen booty properly after escaping the house and decided that it was simply not valuable enough. The fact that they abandoned the bag right outside the MLC’s house seems to be a coincidence. We have registered a case of house break-in and theft against unknown persons under the Indian Penal Code,” Chavan said.
The police are now scanning Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera footage at and around Lad’s house and also making inquiries about repeat offenders with a history of burglary.
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