MUMBAI: A 29-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for allegedly committing 11 robberies and house break-ins while out on bail in a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA) case involving 20 serious crimes, including attempt to murder, according to the Mumbai police’s crime branch.
The accused, Shiva Armogan Shetty, was earlier arrested in the MCOCA case in 2022. He was charged with committing 20 serious crimes, including attempted murder, house break-ins, robberies, and assault using arms. A court granted him bail in January this year on the condition that he record his attendance every week at the police station.
However, Shetty allegedly stopped visiting the police station in February and also moved out of Kanjurmarg, where he used to live with his wife, said an officer from the crime branch. The crime branch then started searching for him and managed to track him down to Kalwa based on technical evidence and information gathered after speaking to several people related to him. Shetty and his wife were living in a rented house in Kalwa, the officer added.
After interrogation, Shetty allegedly confessed that he had committed 11 more robberies and house break-ins in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Mira Bhayandar and Palghar after getting bail. The police verified the incidents and handed over the accused to the Kharghar police in Navi Mumbai for further action, as three of the cases were registered in Kharghar.
According to the police, Shetty’s modus operandi was to wear good clothes and enter a building by claiming he was visiting his relatives. Once he got access to the premises, he would target locked flats, break open the doors and make away with valuables.
The 20 serious crimes registered against Shetty earlier included eight cases in Kanjurmarg, two at Park Site in Vikhroli, three in Kurla and one each in Sion, MIDC Bhandup and Vikhroli. According to the police, he was notorious in his vicinity. Considering his criminal activities and an Arms Act case against him, stringent provisions of MCOCA were invoked in the case against him three years ago, the officer said.