Mumbai: Africa trip turns into Rs 1.15 crore shocker for Vile Parle family

Sunny Pawar one of the arrested accused. Pic/By Special Arrangement

A Vile Parle family's dream vacation turned into a nightmare when they returned from Africa to find their home burgled and jewellery worth Rs 1.15 crore missing. The Juhu police cracked the case within days, arresting two men with a history of break-ins and recovering over Rs 80 lakh worth of stolen gold and diamond ornaments.

The complainant, Vikram Dhirajlal Shah, 52, resides in the Spring Wheel building, located on Gulmohar Road No 10 at Ashoknagar Society, Vile Parle West. The arrested accused have been identified as Rahul Mudane, 22, and Sunny Pawar, 25. Police have recovered gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 80.60 lakh from the accused.

The incident

According to police officials, Vikram Shah and his family left for a vacation in Africa on June 25 and returned to Mumbai on July 5. Upon their return, the family found the iron grill of their hall window cut open and their locker ransacked.

"Around 2.469 kg of gold and diamond jewellery kept in two wooden cupboards was found missing," said a police officer. The family immediately informed the Juhu police and registered an FIR against unknown persons.

The investigation

Following the complaint, a team under the guidance of DCP Zone 9, Dixit Gedam and Senior Inspector Sunil Jadhav of Juhu police station launched an investigation. The team included API Ranjit Chavan, PSI Abhishek Patil, ASI Gajanan Patil, and constables Amit Mahangade, Nitin Mandekar, Arjun Ghadigaonkar, Mangesh Khomne, Akash Ghodke, Tushar Panhale, Anil Tayde, Pritam Bhosale, Helkar, Tasgaonkar, and Swapnil Pawar (technical assistance).

During the investigation, police reviewed CCTV footage from June 25 to July 5. They determined that the break-in occurred on June 28, between 2 am and 4 am, when the accused entered the society premises, cut through the window grill, and broke into the flat.

Although the CCTV footage from the society was blurry and failed to capture clear images of the suspects, the police followed other technical clues and eventually identified the accused.

When police reached one suspect's residence, they found he had fled to Punjab with his wife, while the other accused was traced to Navi Mumbai.

"We managed to trace and arrest both accused - one from Punjab and the other from Navi Mumbai. We also recovered 1,609 grams of gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 80.60 lakh," a police officer said. Both accused have previous criminal records and were earlier arrested by Amboli, Santacruz, and Versova police stations in multiple housebreaking cases.

July 5
Day the family returned to Mumbai