Kalamna police arrest five for stealing betel nut worth Rs 26 lakh from godown
Kalamna police arrested five people and recovered betel nut and vehicles worth Rs 26.38 lakh stolen from a godown in Nagpur.
Police have cracked a gang that broke into a godown in the Kalamna police station area and stole betel nut worth lakhs of rupees. Five accused have been arrested, and police have recovered 85 sacks of betel nut worth Rs 16,27,750, two goods vehicles used in the crime and two mobile phones. Police said the total value of the seized material is Rs 26,38,750.
Hanif Kidiya, a resident of Shantinagar, runs a godown called Capital Traders near D.K. Farm in Pavangaon. Between September 12 and 14, someone broke the lock of the godown and stole betel nut worth about Rs 18 lakh and a DVR worth about Rs 5,000 kept inside. On receiving the complaint on September 15, Kalamna police registered a case and began investigating.
Treating the case as serious, the crime detection team examined CCTV footage from the spot and nearby areas, pulled recordings from toll booths and carried out a technical check on vehicle movement. During this, a suspicious goods vehicle was identified. Technical examination showed it to be an Ashok Leyland "Bada Dost" with registration number MH-49 BZ-9132. Police then reached the accused with the help of secret information.
The investigation identified seven people in all, of whom police have arrested five; the other two are still absconding and are being searched for. Those arrested are Nitesh Shivratan Bhavaria (36), Shubham Mahendra Marathe (27), Mohammad Shahzad alias Atiq Mohammad Saeed (37), Mohammad Irfan alias Baba Mohammad Shami Sheikh (35) and Arvind alias Bunty Yeda Ashok Ghansure (33).
Police recovered 85 sacks of betel nut, each weighing 50 kg, from the accused, with each sack valued at about Rs 19,150 and a total value of Rs 16,27,750. Also seized were an Ashok Leyland Bada Dost (MH-49 BZ-9132) and a Mahindra Bolero pickup (MH-49 CW-0053), each valued at about Rs 5 lakh, along with two mobile phones.
Police said several serious cases, including theft and breaking into godowns, are already registered against all five accused. Police are now trying to find out how many earlier crimes the gang has committed and where it planned to sell the stolen betel nut. On Hanif Kidiya's complaint, Kalamna police registered crime number 894/2026 and began action under sections 305(a), 331(3), 331(4) and 3(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The action was carried out by a police team led by Senior Police Inspector Praveen Kale, Police Inspector (Crime) Karim Pathan and Assistant Police Sub-Inspector Gajanan Raut, under the guidance of Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangare Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police Navinchandra Reddy, Additional Commissioner of Police Vasant Pardeshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police Nityanand Jha and Assistant Commissioner of Police Rohit Owhal.
