Mumbai: Externed movie buff caught near Bandra station

A history-sheeter was, on Monday evening, caught in Bandra by the crime branch on a tip-off after he was suspected to have come there to recce a spot for his next crime. Dinesh Waghela, who was externed for a year four months ago and is a movie buff, however, told cops he was in the suburbs to watch a recently-released film. Cops have handed him over to the Jogeshwari police for further action.

Waghela, who has six cases against him in Jogeshwari and Meghwadi police stations, with five cases of thefts, house breaking and trespassing at Jogeshwari police station, was externed after he had secured bail in the latest case against him.

"He had gone underground and was not seen in the area but we received information that he was coming to Bandra west on Monday afternoon. We suspected that he was coming to recce his next target and we laid a trap monitored by inspector Mahesh Desai. At around 4 pm we noticed his movement near Bandra station from where he was nabbed. On questioning him he said he had come to watch a recently released Bollywood film at a theater located close to Bandra station," said a crime branch official.

Dinesh, a resident of Natwar Nagar in Jogeshwari east, had first case of theft registered against him in 2012. A few months later he was again arrested in 2013 for a similar crime by the Jogeshwari police and in the span of another two years, four more cases against him were registered in Meghwadi and Jogeshwari police stations. Each time he conducted the thefts, he used the money to watch films and spend it on parties, the police said.

An officer from the Zone X of the Mumbai police said, "He was externed on August 29, 2016 for one year for his repeated criminal activities. He was on Monday arrested for violation of externed order and his custody was taken from the crime branch unit IX by the Jogeshwari police for further action against him."