Mumbai con artist: 6-year-old boy is a serial wedding crasher (and robber)

While most tots spend their time at weddings lusting after more ice cream this sixyearold would routinely suit up gatecrash weddings with the poise of seasoned con artists and leave with bags full of jewellery and cash Needless to say no one suspected an innocent child of stealing wedding valuables and thus his dream run continued till January 15 that is The pintsized thief would blend in with the wedding party and scour the place for valuables lying around The Bhandup police have arrested two kids the sixyearyearold boy and his sidekick a 15yearold boy on charges of robbery The duo of smooth operators would routinely rob wedding halls located in the stretch between Bhandup and Thane Though they had stolen from many marriage halls in Bhandup none of the owners lodged complaints as in many cases the thefts were hushed up by relatives to prevent a fiasco at the wedding A grab from a wedding video shows the 6yearold blending in with other guests as he looks out for objects that he can steal ldquoThe persons manning the stolen bags never complained as they were scared of making their relatives the subjects of police investigationrdquo said Assistant Police Inspector Deepak Surve from Bhandup police station adding ldquoMany such thefts kept taking place in the halls located in Bhandup Mulund and Thane The sixyearold boy claims that his accomplice is his brother but we donrsquot think sordquo u00a0 The two accused who would routinely rob wedding halls located in the stretch between Bhandup and Thane Pics blurred as they are minors The matter finally came to light when owners of Tip Top Plaza in Thane registered a case with the Wagle Estate police station after a theft occurred in the marriage hall in their premises The relative of a constable posted in Bhandup police station was getting married in the ceremony and learnt about the theft With the help of CCTV cameras fixed in the hall cops and owners saw that two wedding crashers had made away with the valuables Surve said ldquoWe came to know about the incident on January 3 after a robbery occurred at a wedding ceremony attended by one of our constables We were informed later of similar incidents having taken place in other marriage halls in Bhandup We trapped the two accused and arrested them on January 15 from Felix Hall in Bhandup after consulting the Wagle Estate policerdquo The boys had stolen gold worth Rs 2 lakh and Rs 70000 in cash from the venue Police revealed that the minors appeared to have been trained by someone in the tricks of the trade Since their arrest they have determinedly hidden their identities from the cops Asked where they stay they mentioned from Bhandup railway station ldquoBoth the boys have been trained very well They said they live in Bhandup railway station and refused to tell us when they started their career as robbersrdquo said Surveu00a0 Asked where they obtained resources such as the suits that allowed them to enter the venues unnoticed Surve said ldquoThe sixyearold stated that his mother provided him with the suit When we asked him where he was he turned the tables on us asking us to look for her insteadrdquo The case was transferred to Wagle Estate police station on Sunday u00a0