(From left) Sravankumar Nadar, and his associates Krishnakumar Nadar and Jitu Tiwari have been arrested
This Mumbai housebreaker has blazed a trail by catching the attention of the Income Tax department, thanks to the colossal loot he has accumulated. Sravankumar Nadar (45), a known jeweller in the city, who hails from Tamil Nadu, is currently behind bars at the Arthur Road jail in connection with the 45 cases lodged against him.
Three police stations Vile Parle, Juhu and Khar have already laid claim to his custody, for the 15 cases they collectively have him booked in. As regards the remaining 30, seven other police stations are investigating Nadar and his associates.
During the ongoing probe, cops have found that Nadar is building a huge jewellery shop and a bungalow in his hometown in Tamil Nadu. He also had plans to build a hospital. In fact, cops said, he played Robin Hood to his villagers. "Anyone who went to him with a request for financial help got their work done immediately. The villagers would respect him and felt that he had a number of legitimate businesses in Mumbai," sources told mid-day.
His shenanigans caught the eye of the Income Tax department of Mumbai. It immediately asked its team in Tamil Nadu to investigate the matter by getting each and every detail about Nadar and his property in his hometown. The probe team has acquired the relevant information.
The officials will now visit the Mumbai police to get more details about him. Krishna Kumar, deputy director, Income Tax department, Tamil Nadu, said, "We have started our investigation to locate Nadar's property and belongings. We were tipped off by our Mumbai department. We have found that he has made big money, but our investigations are still ongoing. We will file a case after that."
He added, "We would be visiting Mumbai soon. We are trying to find all that he has built and bought with the money from the loot, so we can take necessary action against him." Nadar was arrested in March this year from Mumbai, along with his accomplice Krishnakumar Nadar and one Jitu Tiwari, a driver from Dharavi, by the Vile Parle police. Cops had recovered around Rs 50 lakh and other valuables from him in his hometown. Later, he was handed over to other police stations.
Santosh Shinde of Vile Parle police station said, "He has huge assets, as there are over 45 cases against him involving an enormous amount of stolen cash and valuables. He wasn't caught till March this year. And when we took him to his village while investigating the case, we were shocked to see that he was not only building properties, but was a widely respected personality there."
Nadar and his associates would travel in high-end cars. The driver would distract the watchman of the target building or they would cite a meeting with a particular resident, to get inside the premises and carry out the break-ins, cops said.
Nadar on the radarAfter their last crime in January, the police used cell tower information to check which mobile numbers had been used in the area at the time of the crime. They found that one of them was a Karnataka number. They used this information to track down and arrest Sravankumar Nadar, who led them to his two aides.