Two held for theft at suburban mall in Mumbai

Two former employees of a popular food chain outlet at the Oberoi Mall in Dindoshi were arrested for stealing Rs1,47,000 from the safe with the help of duplicate keys on Monday.

The accused have been identified as Asif Ali Shabbir Khorajia and Fahid Noormohamed Sunatara. The duo had quit their jobs a few months ago, and was well-versed with the positioning of the CCTV’s at the outlet.

The incident took place on Monday between 12.30 am - 9am when the outlet at the third floor of the mall was closed. When the employees came on Monday morning they found the cash missing from the safe.

The CCTV placed at the door captured a man in the uniform of the same outlet — including a cap — entering the store. What furthered their suspicion of it being an insider’s job was the fact that the suspect entered and exited in such a manner that they always had their back towards the camera.

Some of the employees identified the bag held by the suspect as the one they had seen in the hands of Asif Ali who worked there a few months ago. The cops went to the address provided by the employers which turned out to be incorrect. The Dindoshi police officials then contacted Fahid who had also quit his job a few months ago.

When questioned about Ali, Fahid mentioned that he had not met Ali for some time however he knew Ali was in Ahemdabad. Finally Fahid confessed to stealing the amount and guided them to Ali who was in Kurar. The police arrested the duo and was able to recover Rs98,000 of the stolen amount.