Mumbai: Police have been left scratching their heads after three men entered a commercial aquarium in Kurla and stole 126 fish on Saturday. What has baffled the cops is that the thieves chose to break into an aquarium, even though the shop is adjacent to a residential building and an ATM cubicle.
The case was registered with the Nehru Nagar police on Wednesday, after the owner of the aquarium decided to tally the fish count on Saturday with the previous day's count on noticing their diminished numbers. He found that of the 296 golden pearl arowana fish, only 170 remained in the tank.
These fish are generally kept at home and are considered a lucky charm. Police estimated that the piscine booty is worth Rs 1.51 lakh. The three unidentified men were seen entering the shop in the wee hours on Saturday, by a CCTV camera installed in a nearby building.
Police are now using the footage to identify the accused. An office from Nehru Nagar police station, requesting anonymity, said, "The shop is located between a residential building and an ATM, so it is really surprising that the accused chose to rob a fish shop instead.
However, we have procured the footage in which these three culprits can be clearly seen entering the establishment. They stayed there for nearly 15 minutes before escaping." Senior Police Inspector Suresh Bavar from Nehru Nagar police station said, "The victim had counted the number of fish the previous day, which made him realise a theft had taken place in his shop.
The complainant alleged that the accused sneaked inside the shop with duplicate keys and walked away with the fish in a plastic bag." The accused have been booked under Section 446 (house-breaking by night) of the Indian Penal Code.