Thief Steals Jewellery Worth 5.5 Lakhs Amid Kalyan High-Rise Fire Chaos | Mumbai News

Kalyan: Even thieves show ingenuity and audacity when at work. Taking advantage of chaos in a Kalyan high-rise hours after a fire had broken out, a thief coolly walked into a doctor’s flat in full view of other residents, and walked away with a vault with gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 5.5 lakh.
A neighbour who did notice the man walking out with the safe ignored him, assuming that the person was helping the flat owner salvage belongings from the house.
A fire had broken out in a hotelier’s flat on the 15th floor of Vertex Solitaire a little after 5 pm on Tuesday. Flats on two upper floors were also affected in the blaze. The house of Dr Manjusha Srivastava, who lives on the 16th floor, was completely gutted.
As the flames spread, the people in the building rushed out of their homes. Hours later, after the fire was put out, people walked into their homes to assess the damage to their belongings. Power had been shut down as a precautionary measure.
The thief cashed in on the darkness and the commotion that ensued on the premises at the time. Dr Manjusha’s husband, Dr Sumit Srivastava, told TOI, “During this time, our neighbour, who is also a doctor, saw the thief taking away the locker, but he assumed that the man was a relative of ours helping us salvage valuables and other stuff for basic survival…”
The intruder calmly disappeared with the valuables. Neither the man nor the mini vault was seen thereafter.
A case of ‘theft and burglary’ has been registered at Khadakpada police station against the unidentified person. The statement of the eyewitness doctor has been recorded, said the police.
Senior inspector Amarnath Waghmode said they have seized the digital recorder of the closed-circuit television camera system of the building. “We have started looking for this mystery man…” he said.
Flats on three floors of the building –– 15th, 16th, and 17th –– were badly affected in the blaze. Residents of the building have alleged that many unknown people had walked into the premises soon after the fire had been extinguished.