PUNE: Mohammed Irfan Akhtar Shaikh and Mohammed Mahroof Matiur Ali were gentrified burglars with a taste for the good life.They owned a Mercedez Benz car, stayed at luxury hotels in Mumbai and celebrated successful burglaries by partying in Goa, among other cities.The 29-year-old Shaikh and Ali (25) even turned Robin Hood in their hometown of Pupri, in Bihar’s Sitamarhi district, where they used their ill-gotten wealth to fund weddings of women from financially weak families.Their luck ran out in Mumbai on Friday, when they were arrested by the Pune rural police for stealing valuables worth Rs6.5 lakh from a bungalow in Lonavla. The arresting team comprised Pune rural superintendent of police Sandip Patil and inspector Dayanand Gawade. Both were involved in several burglaries in different parts of the country, including Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and the National Capital Region.The police said the owner of the Lonavla bungalow called them on November 1, saying cash, a pen and other valuables worth Rs6.5 lakh were stolen from his bungalow.“The bungalow is under CCTV surveillance. We checked the footage and found that two men were behind the theft. The footage also showed the duo driving a Mercedes Benz,” Gawade said.The police focused their investigation on the car and the two suspects. “We tracked them down to a hotel in Mumbai,” Gawade said.According to Gawade, the police laid a trap, and the suspects neatly walked into it on Friday. The police have seized the car, Rs8,800 and the tools used in the burglaries.“Shaikh was involved in many house break-in thefts in Delhi and adjoining areas. He and Ali were arrested two years ago by the Delhi police. They were released on bail. Shaikh and Ali then shifted their focus to Mumbai and started stealing valuables from bungalows and apartments in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai,” Gawade said.Both men are school dropouts. The Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai police have been informed about their arrest.“The two have confessed to committing eight major burglaries in Delhi and NCR, where they collectively stole cash and valuables worth more than Rs1 crore,” Gawade said, adding that the suspects lost count of the minor burglaries, where they could lay their hands only on small amounts. “We are verifying these details with the Delhi police,” he said.Shaikh and Ali bought a second-hand Mercedez Benz about a year ago. They funded the purchase with booty worth Rs25 lakh stolen from a bungalow in Delhi. “The car is registered with the Haryana regional transport office,” Gawade said.They would travel all the way to Mumbai in the Mercedez and stay in luxury hotels, which have a parking facility, Gawade said. “Sometimes, their stay extended up to 15 days,” he said.The two men, who dressed to impress, started using the car extensively in their activities. “They targeted locked apartments and bungalows in upscale societies. Fooled by the fancy car, the societies’ security guards would not stop them from entering the premises,” Gawade said.Shaikh and Ali sold the stolen valuables to different jewellery shops in north India. “Shaikh told us that he had also provided money to the poor from their hometown, who did not have money for their daughters’ wedding,” he said.“The duo spent the rest of the money on partying at Goa, Delhi and other cities,” Gawade said.

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