Journalist-turned-thief arrested for 8 house break-ins in Thane

Thane: Police have arrested a 32-year-old former journalist from Dombivli in Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly stealing valuables by breaking into houses, an official said on Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone III - Kalyan) Sachin Gunjal said, "Of late, the number of house break-in and theft cases had gone up in the Kalyan-Dombivli region. The police had formed teams that worked on various leads, including the CCTV footages and intelligence inputs, finally nabbed the accused." The police recovered from him 47 'tola' gold ornaments and a couple of laptops worth Rs 20 lakh, he said.

With his arrest, the police claimed to have solved eight cases of house break-in and thefts in the region.

The accused is well-educated and worked as a journalist in a leading newpaper in Mumbai till 2011. He got addicted to dance bars and in order to earn quick money, he started targeting houses for thefts, the police official said.

"He used to strike the locked houses and loot the ornaments," he added.