Hopes of leading a comfortable life after the theft —nursed by a domestic help of Bollywood actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik — were dashed, as the city police arrested him just 48 hours after he decamped with a cash of staggering Rs 1.20 crore from the residence of the comedian of ‘Calendar in Mr India’ fame during the weekend.
The police took into custody the ‘on-the-run’ domestic help, Sajan Kumar, and recovered Rs 1.19 crore cash from him on Tuesday night, before he pulled off his plans to flee to his native town in Jharkhand with stolen booty. Though Kumar quietly decamped from Kaushik’s residence without being noticed, his lack of adequate planning landed him in the police net.
Police said on Wednesday that Kumar, who was working as a domestic help in Kaushik’s residence in Raj Classic apartment at Versova in north-west Mumbai for the last four months, had seen an employee handing over a bag containing the cash handed to the actor-filmmaker on May 16. The ‘Pappu Pager’ in comedy film Deewana Mastana was to deposit the money in the bank on May 19. But, much to the discomfort of Mr Bechara producer, Kumar had some other plans.
According to police, Kumar quietly walked out with the bag containing cash from Kaushik’s residence on Sunday morning — a theft that came to be noticed by Kaushik’s family members later in the following which the filmmaker’s wife lodged a complaint with the Versova Police Station.The police tracked Kumar down from the first of the clues they landed — in the form of calls made by him from a newly purchased mobile phone with a new SIM card.
Having set his eye on the bag with cash lying in Kaushik’s residence, Kumar had mental preparations — albeit haphazardly — to steal the money and make good his escape.“Kumar had purchased a mobile phone and a new SIM card from a nearby outlet at Versova on Saturday. He planned to use the new mobile phone with new SIM card after the theft. But, the moment he began using the new phone, we were able to track down his movement through IMEI number. We zeroed in on Kumar at Vashi naka and recovered a cash of Rs 1.19 crore from him,” a senior police officer said.
Kumar was on Wednesday produced before a suburban court, which remanded him in police custody till May 26.The post-arrest interrogation of the domestic help has revealed that after decamping with the bag containing cash, Kumar took an autorickshaw to nearby Andheri Railway Station from where he went to Chhatra-pati Shivaji Terminus in South Mumbai by a suburban local.
Still in the process of chalking out his plans, Kumar returned to Andheri station by another local. He took an auto to eastern suburb of Kurla, where he checked into a hotel.According to police, Kumar planned to take a train to Ranchi from the lokmanya Tilak Terminus at Kurla the following morning. Maybe his luck ran out — the hotel staff did not wake him up early and he missed the train. Kumar then checked out of the hotel and went to his relative’s place where he spent some time.