The foreign national had stolen jewellery worth Rs 1.45 lakh to splurge on his Goa vacation; was picked up from Anjuna Beach
The foreign national had stolen jewellery worth Rs 1.45 lakh to splurge on his Goa vacation; was picked up from Anjuna Beach
It doesn't matter how smart a criminal is, often a little mistake is all it takes for investigators to nail the culprit.
A foreign national, who had conned a couple of jewellers in Navi Mumbai, was nabbed in Goa after the owner of the mobile shop from where he had upgraded his cellphone's talk time revealed his number to the police during investigation. The team of CBD Belapur police officials nabbed Shanidze Mammllik (48), a Georgian national from Anjuna beach on Saturday. 
Behind Bars: Shanidze Mammllik, a resident of Samtredia in Georgia,
got into the bad habit of making easy money so that he could splurge on
his vacation in Goa. PIC/GOPAL SHAH
MiD DAY had published a report on Saturday with a CCTV grab that showed Mammllik stealing a ring from a store in Vashi.
Cops said that Mammllik had arrived in India a month ago. Investigations have revealed that the accused, a resident of Samtredia, Georgia, got into the bad habit of making easy money so that he could splurge on his vacation in Goa.
The breakthrough
During investigations, a mobile shop owner informed the police that he had seen Mammllik on the day of the crime because the accused had recharged his cellphone from his shop. Based on his cellphone number, which the cops secured from the shop owner's record book and the CCTV footage recorded at one of the jewellery shops he had strucku00a0-- showing Mammllik stealing the ringu00a0-- a complaint was lodged against him.
The arrest
Using Mammllik's mobile number, the Belapur cops then zeroed in on his location in Goa.
"He belongs to a good family, but has gotten into the bad habit of making easy money," said Nitin Patil, PI of CBD Belapur police station. "Mammllik is a swimming coach and is eager to start a business in India."
Moreover, the police have also learnt that Mammllik is involved in a similar crime in Goa and was even arrested for the same. Currently, he's out on bail in the case of theft that was registered against him with the Goa police. Mammllik's wife has reached India and is helping the cops in investigations. Mammllik doesn't understand English and needs a translator, the police added.
Lured by quick money
On Friday, in two different incidents, an unknown foreigner had cheated two jewellers for valuables worth Rs 1.45 lakh. The first incident was reported at Mahalaxmi Jewellers in Sector 17 at Vashi.
Mammllik entered the shop owned by Laxman Kothari and on the pretext of buying a diamond ring, started asking for varieties. While checking out the rings, he sneaked one of them into his pocket. Later, he even asked Kothari whether he would accept payment in US dollars.
When Kothari refused, Mammllik told him that he would drop in later when he had Indian currency on him.
However, it wasn't until Kothari started replacing the rings did he realise that Mammllik had conned him for a ring worth Rs 45,000. He immediately lodged a complaint with the Vashi police.
On the same day, using the similar modus operandi, Mammllik conned Tansuklal Jain of Mayura Jewellers, located at CBD Belapur's Sector 8, and made away with a ring worth Rs 1 lakh.
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