Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, Jun 3: A notorious thief who stunned Mumbai’s western suburbs with his daring ‘Spider-Man’-style break-ins has finally been nabbed by the Malad Police after a meticulous 17-day manhunt. The accused, 44-year-old Ranjit Kumar Singh alias Munna, was arrested on May 31 and remanded to police custody till June 5.
Singh, a resident of Malvani and a native of Babuaganj in Bihar, was known for his unique method of scaling narrow building pipes to enter homes through windows. To evade detection, he frequently changed disguises—posing as a woman in a burqa, a delivery boy, or altering his attire. His face was always covered during thefts, making identification through CCTV nearly impossible.
The police recovered stolen property from him including 36 tolas of gold ornaments, diamonds, 1 kg of silver, Rs 13 lac in cash, and even a gold-melting machine. He had also used his stolen riches to buy land worth Rs 10 lac in Bihar and a room in Malvani for Rs 6 lac.
According to officials, Singh had created panic across Malad, Kandivali, Borivali, and Dindoshi, executing at least eight thefts in these areas. During one such incident on March 17, he climbed into a Malad residence and stole valuables worth Rs 4.5 lac. Although CCTV footage was recovered, his identity remained hidden due to his full-face covering.
The turning point came when the Malad Police reviewed over 150 CCTV footages and zeroed in on his movement pattern near the Malad-Malvani road. Plainclothes police began patrolling the railway vicinity, suspecting he might be hiding in the area. After a focused two-day surveillance operation near the Rathodi area, Singh was finally apprehended.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone-11, Anand Bhoite, said, “The accused had never been caught before and was responsible for multiple high-value thefts in the western suburbs.”
Interestingly, Singh even attempted to melt down stolen gold at home using a gold-melting machine, but his lack of expertise meant he couldn’t distinguish real gold from fake. Some melted gold was later found discarded in his dustbin.
The successful arrest was the result of a well-coordinated effort by Police Sub-Inspector Tushar Sukhdeve of the Crime Branch, under the guidance of Senior Police Inspector Vijaykumar Panhale of Malad Police Station, and Crime Inspectors Mahendra Ghag and Sanjay Bedwal.