Mumbai: Lalbaug Ganpati crowds become target for thieves as Kalachowkie police file 11 FIRs

The massive crowds gathering at Lalbaugrsquos popular Ganpati pandals have also created opportunities for thieves with Kalachowkie police registering at least 11 FIRs in cases involving mobile phones gold jewellery and twowheelers besides an alleged darshanaccess fraudpopcorn number11 descNo of theftrelated FIRs registered classDefaultThe cases reviewed by midday include incidents around Lalbaugcha Raja Mumbaicha Raja in Ganesh Galli and Kalachowkie Mahaganpati near Cotton Green railway station with several of the thefts taking place as devotees stood in or moved through crowded areasPhones stolenA Rs 40000 Samsung S24 Ultra was allegedly stolen from a devoteersquos pocket near the Ganesh Galli Ganpati gate on September 20 The complainant told police that he had arrived in Lalbaug with friends for darshan and noticed the phone missing after reaching the gate The accused remains unidentifiedA Realme 12 Pro 5G worth around Rs 11000 was allegedly stolen from the pocket of Khushi Vijaykumar Dubey 21 around 1245 am on September 19 Dubey a student had travelled from Kalyan with friends for Ganpati darshan After visiting Chinchpoklirsquos Chintamani Ganpati Mahaganpati and Mumbaicha Raja they reached Lalbaugcha Raja Dubey told police that she saw one Anil alias Kavva Mahavir Verma 39 allegedly take the phone from her pocket and hand it to another man identified as Ashiq She managed to catch Verma while Ashiq allegedly fled The police eventually arrested bothVehicular theftVaibhav Sonar 24 a bank employee and resident of Andheri East had come to Lalbaug with his friend to visit the Ganpati pandals He parked his Honda Dio near Sevasadan Building on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road before visiting Chintamani Ganpati and later Lalbaugcha Raja The scooter was missing when he returned around 330 amA Rs 50000 Suzuki Access 125 belonging to Aaryan Balkrishna Gavde 23 a resident of Sion Koliwada was allegedly stolen from Jijamata Ambedkar Marg opposite the Lalbaug post office after he arrived with friends to visit the Ganpati pandals He parked the scooter around 1015 pm on September 21 and went for Lalbaugcha Raja darshan When he returned around 1 am the scooter was missing He searched the area and later checked with the traffic branch but the vehicle could not be tracedJewellery pocketedA 25gram gold chain valued at around Rs 2 lakh was allegedly stolen while a devotee was visiting Mumbaicha Raja in Ganesh Galli Another FIR records the theft of multiple mobile phones from devotees in the same areaAt Kalachowkie Mahaganpati a devotee reported losing a fourgram mangalsutra and a 10gram gold bracelet while police also registered a case involving an alleged R3400 scam in which a devotee was promised quicker or special darshan for a groupThis ldquodarshan scamrdquo involved a 20yearold Iqbal Asamohammad Mansuri who was at Lalbaugcha Raja with his friends Deepak Dushant Manthan Shinde and Hrishikesh Pawar They allegedly met Pranav Sureshkumar Yadav 18 of Parel near the Magnum Tower gateYadav allegedly offered to arrange a quicker Charan Sparsh darshan for the four at Rs 850 each taking Rs 800 online and Rs 2600 in cash After waiting for nearly two hours the group allegedly realised he had no passes or arrangement and took him to the Kalachowkie police Yadav was subsequently arrested and booked under Section 3184 of the Bharatiya Nyaya SanhitaAIenabled CCTV camerasThe theft complaints have come even as police and mandal authorities have increased surveillance around the major pandals AIenabled CCTV cameras have been deployed at Lalbaugcha Raja with facial scanning and suspiciousactivity monitoring forming part of the security system The pandal has deployed hundreds of CCTV cameras many of them AIenabledThe use of this technology is not new to the Lalbaug operation During the 2025 festival Mumbai Police used a database of known criminals with AIlinked CCTV and facial recognition police said the system helped identify around 100 suspects who visited the Lalbaugcha Raja pandalDuo from Indore heldKalachowkie police also arrested Arif Saksensingh Gujjar 24 and Somnath Samansingh Rathod 23 both from Indore who the police said had come to Lalbaug specifically to target devotees during the Ganeshotsav rush The duo were allegedly caught by devotees on September 14 after security guard Michael Bablu Nadar 28 raised an alarm over the theft of his mobile phone worth Rs 25000 and Rs 2300 in cash from his pocket Plainclothes police intervened and took the two into custody Police are now probing whether the duo was involved in other thefts reported in the area and whether more members were part of the operationGoing for darshan Cops suggest that youhellipgtgt Keep mobile phones wallets and other valuables in secure closed pockets or bagsgtgt Avoid carrying or displaying expensive jewellery in crowded areasgtgt Keep handbags and backpacks in front of you especially while standing in queuesgtgt Be alert if someone bumps pushes or distracts you in a crowded areagtgt Donrsquot leave valuables or vehicle keys unattended while parking or visiting pandalsgtgt Use only officially designated entry exit and parking areasgtgt Donrsquot trust strangers offering shortcuts or special darshan arrangements or asking for moneygtgt Alert the nearest policesecurity personnel immediately if you notice anything suspicious or realise that a valuable is missinggtgt Keep your phone secured and where possible note down its IMEI number for reporting to authorities in case of theft