2 men involved in over 70 cases of thefts from vehicles parked outside wedding venues arrested

Police have arrested two burglars who were involved in stealing cash and valuable items from vehicles parked outside wedding venues and collectively facing more than 70 criminal cases in different parts of Mumbai and its adjoining areas, an official said on Tuesday.

According to the Maharashtra Housing Board Colony police station in suburban Borivali, the accused were identified as Sarfuddin Abdul Sheikh (55) and Shera Chavan (39) and were recently nabbed from Andheri in Mumbai and Nashik district, respectively.

Both the accused were arrested in two different cases registered at the police station, he said.

Sheikh was apprehended in a case where he decamped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh after breaking a glass of a car whose owner had gone to attend an engagement ceremony in Borivali, said the official.

Acting on a complaint, police swung into action and with the help of CCTV footage zeroed on Sheikh, who has more than 22 cases registered against his name in different police stations for committing similar crimes, he said.

The second accused, Chavan, was nabbed from a hotel in Nashik district, around 200km from Mumbai, where he had gone to meet his daughter. He faces around 50 cases for stealing cash and other valuables from vehicles parked outside marriage venues, said the official.

The case in which he was arrested pertained to theft of a laptop from a car, he added.

The two accused, who operated separately, are being interrogated, said the official.