Parel hospital guard arrested for ‘stealing’ Rs 10 lakh from safe

“Vartak told us that there were only two people who had the keys to the hospital’s safe. In his statement he said he had placed around
Rs 18 lakh in the safe on October 24, and later found that nearly half the money was missing,” said Senior Police Inspector Sunil Tondwalkar, Bhoiwada police station.

The police then examined the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera footage of the sixth floor of the hospital and saw security guard Ganesh Palekar (26) enter the room where the safe was located.

“Palekar entered the room after completing his shift around 7 pm on October 24. When he came out of the room, his shirt was tucked in and looked slightly stuffed,” said Tondwalkar.

The police then picked up Palekar and questioned him, after which he confessed to have stolen the money. He reportedly said he had committed the crime as he desperately needed to raise money to pay for his ailing mother’s treatment.

“In his confession, Palekar said he did not have to make a duplicate key for the safe. The key was placed in a cupboard, which could be opened by some tampering with the lock. Palekar knew this and decided to exploit it,” Tondwalkar added.

Palekar was placed under arrest on Wednesday, following his confession, and charged with theft under the Indian Penal Code. The police have recovered all the stolen money from Palekar’s rented house in Sion Koliwada, where he stayed with his mother and wife. He was produced in a metropolitan magistrate’s court, where he was remanded in police custody till October 31.

The police said he was employed with a reputed security agency in Mumbai, which had been deployed at the hospital as a security guard, and had been working there for the past one-and-a-half years.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com