Arrested burglar broke into 28 houses
Habitual offender committed crime while out on bail
The housebreaker nabbed on a tip-off by Bharati Vidyapeeth Police on July 12 turned out to be a habitual offender. Investigations revealed that the suspect Dhananjaya Dattatreya Ghodke (36) has 28 cases of housebreaking against him. The police recovered 633 grams of gold ornaments valued at Rs 20,31,000, half kilogram silver ornaments and objects, three LCD television sets worth Rs 35,000, a laptop worth Rs 20,000, a mobile handset worth Rs 7,500 and three gas cylinders worth Rs 6,000, all valued at Rs 21 lakhs from Ghodke.
Suspect Dhananjaya Dattatreya Ghodke
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Pankaj Dahane said on July 12 that acting on a tip-off, the patrol team of Bharati Vidyapeeth Police on July 3 arrested Ghodke residing at Flat No 203, Gagan Chayya Building, Sai Siddhi Chowk in Ambegaon Pathar, when the suspect was on his way to Jyotirling Jewellers at Ambegaon Pathar to sell stolen gold ornaments. The police found Rs 15,000 worth gold chains from his possession. Ghodke confessed to have burgled 28 houses. Police records showed that he was arrested in 2008 for 27 cases of vehicle theft and one case of housebreak, and committed housebreaks while out on bail.
According to the police, Ghodke, who worked at the TVS showroom opposite Adinath Society on Pune-Satara Road as a helper, used to observe houses in the localities that fall on his way to the showroom. He used to break-in houses that were locked using an iron rod and commit burglary.
Senior Inspector of Bharati Vidyapeeth Police Station Vijaysingh Gaikwad said that Ghodke has 28 criminal cases registered against him at various police stations, including Bharati Vidyapeeth, Kothrud, Sahakar Nagar, Pimpri, Wanowrie and Chinchwad. The accused has been arrested and booked under Sections 380 (theft in dwelling house), 454 (lurking house trespass) and 457 (housebreaking by night) of IPC. Ghodke was produced in the court on July 12 and granted police custody till July 14.
Originally published on The Golden Sparrow
