Mumbai: Businessman loses diamonds to bag-lifting gang; five members held

The bag-lifting gang works on a unique modus operandi. Representation pic

The Property Cell of Mumbai Crime Branch on Saturday arrested five members of a bag-lifting gang, who have targeted a number of people across the city using a unique modus operandi. Recently they targeted a diamond merchant from Borivli in April and made away with a bag with 150 packets of diamonds. Five of them were traced to different parts of the state.

According to the Property Cell, the incident was reported at Borivli police station on March 13. The theft happened when the businessman, identified as Sagar Shah, was returning home from his office located near Opera House. "The gang started following him and boarded the bus he took. Using their modus operandi, they lifted the bag and got off the bus without the victim even noticing it," said DCP Prakash Jadhav, Mumbai Crime Branch.

According to the Crime Branch, each member of the gang had around 10-12 cases registered against them. In this case, after boarding the bus one of the gang members sat next to the target, two behind him while the others sat in front of him. "The two seated behind him tried to divert his attention by saying that something was stuck to his clothes. The moment he turned around, the person sitting next to him pushed the bag, which he had kept on the floor of the bus, towards those sitting on the front seat. Two of the members immediately got off the bus with the bag and then the others followed," said Shashikant Pawar, senior PI, Property Cell.

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Realised too late

Shah realised it only after all five of them got off the bus. He immediately approached the Borivli police station and filed a complaint saying that he was carrying 150 packets of diamonds in the bag, which he was going to deliver to customers. While probing the matter, the Crime Branch found CCTV footage and other technical evidence. "Every time they commit a crime, they go underground to avoid the law enforcing agencies but we managed to arrest them from different parts of the state," Pawar added.

So far the crime branch has recovered 95 pouches of diamonds worth Rs 24 lakh. The accused arrested in the matter have been identified as Anil Tukaram Gaikwad alias Aanya, 53, Vishal Anil Gaikwad, 27, Abdul Jabbar Shaikh, 37, Sanjay Uttam, 43 and Sayyed Rafique Ali, 58.