Rs 17,200 in cash and silver stolen from locked Chunala house in Rajura while owners were in Nagpur

A house burglary has come to light in Ward No. 2 of Chunala, under Rajura police station limits in Chandrapur district. Taking advantage of the house being locked, unidentified thieves broke the lock with an axe and a tool, entered, and made off with cash and silver ornaments kept in a wooden almirah. Valuables worth Rs 17,200 were stolen. Rajura police have registered a case against unidentified thieves under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the incident has caused a stir in the area.

According to police and the complaint, the complainant, Suresh Harichandra Wandhare (63), a resident of Chunala Ward No. 2, Rajura, is retired from the Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) and lives with his wife. Both were scheduled to undergo operations on both eyes on October 5, 2026, and had gone to their daughter's house in Nagpur for treatment. Before leaving, they locked the house and asked his younger brother, Deepak Harichandra Wandhare, to keep an eye on it.

The theft took place between 11 pm on October 25, 2026 and 5 am on October 26. At about 6.20 am on Monday, October 26, neighbour Ashish Bhongale phoned Suresh Wandhare and told him that the gates of the house compound and the main door appeared to be open. When he asked whether they had returned home, Wandhare said they were still in Nagpur. Since no one was at the house, he suspected a theft and immediately sent his brother Deepak there.

Deepak Wandhare went to the house and inspected it. He said unidentified thieves had broken the locks on the house and the compound-wall gate, entered, and committed a theft. Suresh Wandhare and his wife then returned urgently from Nagpur to their house in Rajura. On checking, they found clothes lying scattered in the wooden almirah of the showcase in the bedroom. The thieves had taken 20 bundles of Rs 500 notes, amounting to Rs 10,000 in cash, kept in the almirah's locker, as well as old silver ornaments.

The stolen silver items are: three old kadas (50 grams, Rs 1,500), three old silver coins (40 grams, Rs 1,200), two old spoons (10 grams, Rs 300), one old plate (20 grams, Rs 600), one old tumbler (20 grams, Rs 600), four old toe rings (40 grams, Rs 1,200), one pair of old silver anklets (40 grams, Rs 1,200) and two old silver lamps (20 grams, Rs 600). Together with the Rs 10,000 in cash, the thieves took valuables worth Rs 17,200.

Suresh Harichandra Wandhare came to Rajura police station and gave an oral complaint. On that basis, a case has been registered against unidentified accused under Sections 305 and 331(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Sub-inspector Laxman Subhash Lokre is investigating the case, and police are searching for the thieves.