Pune: In spite of several measures undertaken by the Pune police and devotees, thieves managed to take advantage of the massive crowd and stole eight gold chains and two mobile phones collectively valued at Rs5.72 lakhs during the darshan of Lord Ganesh idol and on the day of immersion since Sept 5.Eight incidents relating to the theft of gold chains and two phones were reported on Laxmi Road, Belbaug Chowk, Alka Talkies Chowk, Mandai, Shukuwar Peth, and other places. These were registered at Vishrambaug and Faraskhana police stations respectively on Sept 7.In one of the phone snatching cases, Faraskhana police arrested Alim Shaikh (28) and Attar Ahmed (25), both from Malegaon in Nashik, on Monday and recovered 13 phones worth Rs 1.78 lakh from them.Lakhs of devotees participate during the Ganesh festival and procession to take a glimpse of the idol, decoration, and performances organised by the mandals. A police official said the incident happened because devotees ignored warnings against carrying valuables like ornaments and phones during the festival.Vishrambaug’s senior police inspector, Santosh Pandhare, said in most cases the devotees registered the cases after a delay upon realising that the ornaments were stolen. Police teams are analysing CCTV footage, checking criminals on record, and working on certain clues to detect the chain theft cases, he added.
