Repeat burglar from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar held for Virar daytime house break-in

A daytime burglary at a locked house in Virar East, in which gold jewellery and cash worth Rs 2 lakh were stolen, has been cracked. Crime Branch Unit-3 of the Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar Police Commissionerate has arrested a habitual inter-district burglar.

The accused has been named as Arif Yakub Shaikh (31), a resident of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The investigation has revealed that 15 serious cases are registered against him at various police stations.

The complainant, Deepak Deu Kumbhar (58), lives in Virar East. His house was locked on the afternoon of October 10, 2026. In just 15 minutes, between 2.30 pm and 2.45 pm, an unidentified thief broke the lock of the main door and entered.

He then broke open the safe in the bedroom cupboard and fled with gold jewellery and cash, valued in all at Rs 2,00,000. A case had been registered at Virar police station.

Recognising the seriousness of the crime, senior officers issued instructions. Following these, a team of Crime Branch Unit-3 visited the spot. It then began investigating on the basis of technical analysis and information from confidential informants.

Acting on reliable information, the team went straight to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, where it laid a trap and detained the accused, Arif Shaikh. During questioning, he confessed to the Virar burglary. He has been handed over to Virar police for further legal action.

The operation was carried out under the guidance of Police Commissioner Niket Kaushik, Additional Police Commissioner Sanjay Shintre, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Doifode and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Nitin Patil.

The team that carried out the work comprised Senior Police Inspector in charge of Crime Branch Unit-3 Sameer Shaikh, Assistant Police Inspector Amol Talekar, Sub-Inspectors Mangesh Wadane and Prakash Tuplondhe, Assistant Sub-Inspector Ramchandra Patil, constables, and Santosh Chavan of the cyber police station.