From Mount Mary to Lalbaug, thieves make a killing in festival crowd

As the festivities take over Mumbai the citys famous Ganpati mandals and Bandra fair have become a pilgrimage spot not just for devotees but also scores of pickpockets and chainsnatchers out to make a killing in the crowds In just one week the police have caught quite a few thieves who came all the way from Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand and stole phones and gold chains from unsuspecting devoteesThere are few mandals that draw as many devotees and thieves as Lalbaugcha Raja in Parel In the first four days of Ganeshotsav alone as many as 135 cases of mobile theft were recorded there by the in Kalachowky police stationA CCTV grab shows thief Nadia in black getting close to the victim face blurred to snatch her chain at the Mount Mary fairCops estimate the thieves got more lightfingered on the fifth day which attracted even more devotees to the mandal particularly since it was on Sunday Cops have placed around 1000 personnel and a network of CCTV cameras there to keep an eye out for pickpockets Despite that several thefts were reported in the queue leading to the darshan hall We witnessed a surge in cases over the weekend when the number of devotees almost doubled said a cop from Kalachowky policeMany devotees who lose their phones dont report the theft to us so its hard to get the real picture Nevertheless we are working day and night to avert any thefts said another officer on bandobast dutyHowever Dr Ravindra Shisve additional commissioner of police Central region denied this As far as Lalbaugcha Raja is concerned thefts havent surged In fact cases are in single digits so far Surveillance is at its best in the pandalCall of bootyMeanwhile the Kasturba Marg police arrested a 19yearold boy from Jharkhand who had 51 stolen handsets with him The accused Vikas Mahato was arrested in Kurar Malad East with handsets ranging across Apple Samsung Redmi and OppoSources said that Mahato had come to Mumbai for the opportunity to make quick money during the festive season Initially he had targeted the Mount Mary festival in Bandra but the crowds were thinner this year So he focused on Ganpati pandals instead He confessed to stealing phones in Lalbaug Gamdevi and BorivliMahato had come with some boys and gave them a fixed cut for a set target of phones Boys who stole steal more phones got a commission as well said an officer Mahato told the cops that he had planned to sell the phones in Assam and Bangladesh Cops also suspect that he could be using the SIM cards to make telefraud calls He will remain in police custody till Tuesday Last year as well the police had nabbed five people who had come from Varanasi with the target of stealing 100 phones per day at Lalbaugcha RajaCaught on CCTVThe Bandra police arrested three women chainsnatchers who allegedly came down from Chennai to rob people during the Mount Mary festival Police say the three arrested accused only speak Tamil and they are being interrogated through an interpreterThe trio identified as Pandeshwari 24 Radia 37 and Nadia 35 came under the police scanner after Bandra resident Sarta Billbert Koria 41 registered an FIR about her stolen gold chain She complained that she lost the 10gm chain worth Rs 30000 at 915 am while she was exiting the main gate of Mount Mary Church on SundayA senior police officer said the trio also stole a 25gm gold chain worth R75000 from Helen George Fernandes 75 just 30 minutes later DCP Paramjit Singh Dahiya formed a team to investigate and the trio was arrested within six hours Cops scanned footage from 60 CCTV cameras and caught the trio in the act The accused surrounded Koria and one of them snatched her gold chain We recovered one of the stolen chains from their possession said Girish Anavkar senior inspector of Bandra police stationThey were staying with a relative at Fort We are contacting the local police in their hometown to find out whether they are absconding said another officerInputs by Samiullah KhanAlso ReadMumbai Volunteers collect broken Ganpati idols from Juhu Dadar beachesCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates