Pune News: A thief who used to wear a monkey mask and sometimes just his underwear and steal valuables from temples in Pune was finally arrested for 11 alleged thefts. He carried out all the thefts in temples in rural areas of Pune and Ahmednagar districts over a span of six months.
According to an Indian Express report, the accused used a completely different appearance every time he pulled off a heist. The investigation conducted by Pune rural police following his arrest revealed that he learned these tricks while he was behind bars and went on a spree of thefts in temples after he was released recently.
Earlier this year, Pune Rural police had registered back-to-back thefts in temples in Ambegaon, Shirur, Shikrapur, Ranjangaon, and Khed between February and July, as per the Indian Express report. The accused stole a variety of valuables from temples along with cash from the donation boxes.
The things stolen in the thefts included gold and silver ornaments from the temples’ sanctum sanctorum, cash from donation boxes, heavy brass lamps, and bells and music systems.
“Although the monetary value of the stolen items was not very high, these cases were highly sensitive due to the deep emotional significance these temples have for the local community,” said Pankaj Deshmukh, Superintendent of Police for Pune Rural, as quoted by the Indian Express.
A team from Pargaon Karkhana police station looked into security camera footage from various temples that were targeted by the accused.
In the police probe, it was revealed that one suspect, in different appearances, was involved in multiple cases. With inputs from confidential informants, the suspect was identified as Vinayak Damu Jite (32), a resident of Kanhur Mesai in Shirur, who had been in prison in a case of armed robbery till February earlier this year, as per the IE report.
Jite was placed under arrest by a team from Pargaon Karkhana police station on July 31. The details of the arrest were shared with the media after the subsequent investigation, which revealed startling details.
An officer who is part of the investigation said, “The probe revealed that Jite is behind as many as 11 temple thefts—nine from Pune Rural and two from Ahmednagar district — reported between February and July. During his imprisonment in a case of armed robbery, he had learnt some key tricks of the trade from other inmates. He has changed his appearance, clothes, and looks for each of these cases”.
“In some cases, he is seen wearing a monkey mask. In some others he is wearing just underwear and a cloth covering his face. He had conducted a recce of these temples during the day and struck in the early hours. He stole anything and everything that could be sold. Gold and silver valuables of deities, heavy brass lamps and bells, cash from donation boxes, and even amplifiers of music systems, a total of items worth Rs four lakh has been recovered from him.” he added.
SP Pankaj Deshmukh further stated, “We are making an appeal to temples across the villages and towns in Pune Rural jurisdiction to install CCTV cameras on their premises and make sure that areas where valuables are kept as well as entries and exits are covered.”