Sukesh building where Kupe was caught in the act
A nine-year-old's presence of mind helped cops to nab a burglar who had broken into over half a dozen houses in Mulund.
Cops revealed that Rashid Kupe, who had burgled six to seven residences, was arrested on Sunday after the boy spotted him peeping into the flat and snapped photographs of him as evidence.
Cops received a complaint from Somdev Lodaya that cash and valuables worth Rs 5.6 lakh had gone missing from his house in Sukesh Apartment on the Valji-Lodha Road near Hira-Mungi hospital in Mulund (West).
"We immediately started investigating the matter. A team reached the spot and learnt from a nine-year-old boy that a man had been spotted peering into some flats and had been nabbed by them, only to be let off by them with a warning," said Mahadeo Gundewadi, assistant police commissioner of the Mulund division.
Police said that Mahesh Kanojiya, a laundry owner, first spotted Kupe.
"We had seen Kupe peering into a flat and I called him out," said Kanojiya.
"A nine-year-old boy who stays in our building took pictures of him on his cell phone."
Armed with this crucial proof of his identity, cops took several printouts of the photograph and checked the records of criminals in the area.
They learnt that he was originally a Mulund resident, who had recently shifted to Mumbra.
Cops traced Kupe to his address and finally arrested him.