A gang of four, suspected to be a couple and their two children, broke into two adjacent shops in Palghar in the wee hours last week. Interestingly, one of the shops is a cake manufacturing unit, where the man broke open the shutter lock using an iron rod and pulled it up to create a narrow space to sneak into the shop.

"The gang members pretended to be rag pickers. The couple was carrying a sack at the time of the offence. The man first entered the cake shop, ate a few cakes, picked up a few cupcakes for his accomplices, apparently his wife and two children, and came out of the shop discreetly. The cost of the cakes eaten is R500," said investigating officer PSI Ramesh Palve of Palghar police station.