Camera shows cop taking burglar’s loot
A group of Mahim residents couldn’t get why the police were being evasive in filing a burglary complaint. CCTV footage showed them: a man in khaki is seen grabbing a bag from a suspect.
A constable attached with Mahim police station has been caught on camera accepting a bag of swag from a housebreaker who was invading homes in his own locality, allege his neighbours who are victims of a string of recent burglaries.
About two weeks ago, when residents of Mahim’s Janta Naya Nagar approached the area police against a pair of burglars, they sensed something was out of whack because the cops wouldn’t entertain their complaint, and instead tried telling them there couldn’t have been a break-in! Turns out, there was good reason why the police were non-committal: one of their own was in on the “job”, the locals say.
The residents’ charge is propped up by the footage captured on a closedcircuit television (CCTV) camera on March 25, between 3am and 4am, when the thieves were about to raid another house. It was to be their tenth strike that very night, which is strange considering a Mahim police constable was seen patrolling the area on his bike throughout this time.
Piecing together the events of the night, it has been understood that having stashed the loot from the nine preceding break-ins into a bag, the burglars were preparing to force another entry, when they were spotted by the locals, who raised an alarm and began chasing them. While they managed to catch hold of one of them, the other got away — apparently with the bag.
Once the police arrived, they bundled up the suspect restrained by the locals into their van. They identified him as Samir, without giving a last name. But before the police van could reach the station, Samir too slipped away.
After daybreak, around 8, the harried residents approached the police station. They claimed the miscreants had made off with valuables including cell phones worth more than Rs 2 lakh.
The cop-out
Shahida Khan, a social worker from the locality, said, “We went to file a complaint at 8 am but cops kept talking and asking a bunch of things till 1pm, and made a note of it all on a blank sheet of paper.”
Since the officials hadn’t lodged a case, the residents approached the police again the day after. “But they kept dodging us, giving some reason or the other,” Shahida said. “Finally, I approached an inspector at Mahim police station and told him about the incident.”
The case was finally registered on the inspector’s instruction, she said, but no investigation followed. What’s more, the cops tried telling the complainants that the housebreakings could not have happened “when there were people inside the house”.
Having nowhere to turn to, the residents resolved to dig into the matter on their own.
They checked footage recorded on the CCTV camera installed at the office of their housing society, where all the burglaries had occurred — the camera overlooks Mahim Link road.
The locals weren’t expecting to find what they did. A resident from their neighbourhood, whom they know as Javed Shaikh, was seen scuttling away from a mob and handing over a bag to the cop who was on patrol duty that night.
“We were shocked to see the constable, seen patrolling when the housebreakings happened, accepting a bag from Javed, whom we could positively identify from the footage. We informed the Mahim police officials, but even then they did not bother to act,” said Shehnaz Shaikh, another complainant.
Just his daily bread
After watching the footage, the officials reportedly told the locals that Javed cannot actually be seen handing anything to the cop on the bike. And the bag recovered from the constable contains a packet of bread, not stolen goods.
The constable has been identified as S Sonawale. “He even contacted us and said he would get us the stolen booty recovered from the thieves,” said Shehnaz.
Now that the locals have kicked up a fuss about the incident, senior cops have intervened and assured them of a fair investigation, but going by what the officials have to say on record, it doesn’t look like they buy into the contention that a police constable was part of the burglary ring.
Though Javed has now been arrested, Sonawale continues in his job.
Deputy Police Commissioner Mahesh Patil (Zone V) said he verified the CCTV footage. “The constable isn’t seen accepting anything. It is only the suspect’s hand that is seen going toward him. If he had taken anything, he would have kept it somewhere, and there were a lot of people at the spot who would have spotted it,” said Patil, adding that the cops was merely carrying a packet of bread, which is seen in his hands later as well. “There’s nothing else.”
He further said that an inquiry is being conducted into how the suspect who was nabbed from the scene — Samir — fled from the van while he was being brought to the police station. “The footage shown to us is not original. If needed, we will see the original recording as well,” the DCP said.
A constable attached with Mahim police station has been caught on camera accepting a bag of swag from a housebreaker who was invading homes in his own locality, allege his neighbours who are victims of a string of recent burglaries.
About two weeks ago, when residents of Mahim’s Janta Naya Nagar approached the area police against a pair of burglars, they sensed something was out of whack because the cops wouldn’t entertain their complaint, and instead tried telling them there couldn’t have been a break-in! Turns out, there was good reason why the police were non-committal: one of their own was in on the “job”, the locals say.
Runaway thieves
The residents’ charge is propped up by the footage captured on a closedcircuit television (CCTV) camera on March 25, between 3am and 4am, when the thieves were about to raid another house. It was to be their tenth strike that very night, which is strange considering a Mahim police constable was seen patrolling the area on his bike throughout this time.
Piecing together the events of the night, it has been understood that having stashed the loot from the nine preceding break-ins into a bag, the burglars were preparing to force another entry, when they were spotted by the locals, who raised an alarm and began chasing them. While they managed to catch hold of one of them, the other got away — apparently with the bag.
Once the police arrived, they bundled up the suspect restrained by the locals into their van. They identified him as Samir, without giving a last name. But before the police van could reach the station, Samir too slipped away.
After daybreak, around 8, the harried residents approached the police station. They claimed the miscreants had made off with valuables including cell phones worth more than Rs 2 lakh.
The cop-out
Shahida Khan, a social worker from the locality, said, “We went to file a complaint at 8 am but cops kept talking and asking a bunch of things till 1pm, and made a note of it all on a blank sheet of paper.”
Since the officials hadn’t lodged a case, the residents approached the police again the day after. “But they kept dodging us, giving some reason or the other,” Shahida said. “Finally, I approached an inspector at Mahim police station and told him about the incident.”
The case was finally registered on the inspector’s instruction, she said, but no investigation followed. What’s more, the cops tried telling the complainants that the housebreakings could not have happened “when there were people inside the house”.
Having nowhere to turn to, the residents resolved to dig into the matter on their own.
They checked footage recorded on the CCTV camera installed at the office of their housing society, where all the burglaries had occurred — the camera overlooks Mahim Link road.
The locals weren’t expecting to find what they did. A resident from their neighbourhood, whom they know as Javed Shaikh, was seen scuttling away from a mob and handing over a bag to the cop who was on patrol duty that night.
“We were shocked to see the constable, seen patrolling when the housebreakings happened, accepting a bag from Javed, whom we could positively identify from the footage. We informed the Mahim police officials, but even then they did not bother to act,” said Shehnaz Shaikh, another complainant.
Just his daily bread
After watching the footage, the officials reportedly told the locals that Javed cannot actually be seen handing anything to the cop on the bike. And the bag recovered from the constable contains a packet of bread, not stolen goods.
The constable has been identified as S Sonawale. “He even contacted us and said he would get us the stolen booty recovered from the thieves,” said Shehnaz.
Now that the locals have kicked up a fuss about the incident, senior cops have intervened and assured them of a fair investigation, but going by what the officials have to say on record, it doesn’t look like they buy into the contention that a police constable was part of the burglary ring.
Though Javed has now been arrested, Sonawale continues in his job.
Deputy Police Commissioner Mahesh Patil (Zone V) said he verified the CCTV footage. “The constable isn’t seen accepting anything. It is only the suspect’s hand that is seen going toward him. If he had taken anything, he would have kept it somewhere, and there were a lot of people at the spot who would have spotted it,” said Patil, adding that the cops was merely carrying a packet of bread, which is seen in his hands later as well. “There’s nothing else.”
He further said that an inquiry is being conducted into how the suspect who was nabbed from the scene — Samir — fled from the van while he was being brought to the police station. “The footage shown to us is not original. If needed, we will see the original recording as well,” the DCP said.
