Colleges across the Western suburbs have seen instances of students’ bags being stolen as they write their exams; police say the same gang seems to be behind the thefts
As if the stress of appearing for exams was not enough, students who have colleges in the Western suburbs as their exam centres now have to worry about their bags and cellphones being stolen while they are writing their papers.
CCTV footage from N L College in Malad shows the suspected thief, who had used a fake ID to get in, standing next to the bag and pretending to be doing something on his cellphone
According to the police, a gang of thieves has been active on the Western line, and it has been making use of the colleges’ policy against allowing cellphones and bags inside the exam centres to walk away with students’ valuables.
The accused is then seen walking away with the bag
Students usually keep their cellphones and other valuables in their bags outside the classrooms, and that’s when the thieves strike. The latest victim of the gang is TYBCom student Zuber Khan from Saraf College, who had got N L College in Malad (West) as his exam centre.
On November 21, Khan had kept his cellphone and other valuables outside the exam hall and the bag was gone when he came out. An accused, believed to be around the age 25, entered the N L College premises with a fake ID card and stole the bag.
He was caught on the college’s CCTV camera and Khan registered a case with the Malad police the same day. A similar incident had taken place on November 11 as well. Police said the same gang is believed to have been involved in a similar robbery at Borivli’s M K College, which is also known as B E S Junior College.
Seven bags were stolen in one go, but none of them had cellphones. Over the last week or so, the Borivli police have received several complaints of such thefts, as have their counterparts in Malad, Kandivli and Goregaon. A Malad police officer said, “Authorities from N L College told us many such thefts have taken place in the college, including one on November 11.
Since such thefts have been happening across the Western suburbs using the same modus operandi, we suspect one gang is behind all of them. We are investigating the case and the CCTV footage will help us bust the gang.”
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
