Nagpur: In a curious incident, a civil contractor stole 85 grams of gold ornaments from the residence of his close friend to repay the loan. The incident took place in Pachpaoli police area on Krishna Janmashtami day.
According to police, the accused Kailas Prabhakar Nimje (39) was arrested for stealing gold ornaments from the house of Ganesh Rambhau Paunikar (47), at City Plaza Apartment. Kailas lives in Shivneri Apartment, Binaki, and works as a civil contractor while Ganesh is an accountant in BSNL.
“Ganesh and Kailas are friends. On Friday, Kailas organised a programme of Mahaprasad at his house on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami. Ganesh was also invited by Kailas for Mahaprasad,” police said. Ganesh and his wife went to the house of Kailas at around 8 pm. Ganesh’s wife kept the key of her flat on the fridge. Kailas noticed the key and hatched a conspiracy of theft. He picked the key secretly and left the house saying that he was going for important work. He went to Ganesh’s apartment on a two-wheeler and gained entry into the flat after opening the lock with the key. He stole 85 grams of gold ornaments from the cupboard and left the house after locking the door. The accused buried the stolen gold ornaments at a ground near his residence. The Pachpaoli police have recovered the valuables.
After returning home, he kept the key on the fridge, the police said. Ganesh and his wife returned home around 11 pm and noticed the theft. A complaint was lodged with the Pachpaoli police. During investigation, the police checked the CCTVfootage and noticed that Kailas was entering the flat. He was picked by the police for interrogation. Following intense grilling, he confessed to committing the theft to repay the bank loan. A police official said that Kailas concealed the ornaments under a boulder in an open plot.
Curiously, it is learnt, after committing the burglary, Nimje even accompanied Paunikar to Pachpaoli Police Station to help him register an offence. Moreover, Nimje also signed the spot panchnama of Paunikar’s house as a pancha (witness) identifying himself as a ‘trusted friend’. The Pachpaoli police were initially reluctant to file a case as the lock and latch hadn’t been broken. Cops also did not find anything suspicious in absence of clues about any intrusion. There were also no signs of the house being searched for burglary, as per police.
According to police, the investigation team spotted a man on a white Activa in the footage of CCTV cameras installed near Ambedkar Garden and Mahdi Bagh corner. They realized that the man had a physique similar to Nimje who was at the police station a few hours ago. Paunikar too identified the man as his friend Nimje. Cops rounded up Nimje. He broke down and admitted to committing the burglary, said cops.
The case was cracked under the guidance of DCP Zone III Gajanan Rajmane. The arrest was made by Sr PI Sanjay Mendhe, PI Ravi Nagose, PSI Avinash Jaibhaye and staff including Vijay Yadav, VasudevJaipurkar, Ankush Rathod, Pawan Bhatkar, Ganesh Thakare, Nitin, Ashish and Shahnawaz.
