Box contained only Rs. 160; accused’s family says he should have been released with just a warning

The Antop Hill police arrested a 19-year-old youth after he was allegedly caught stealing a donation box from a Ganesh pandal set up by the Siddhivinayak Mitra Mandal in Sion Koliwada at 7 a.m. on Friday.

The police said Aftab Sheikh on seeing no one in the pandal tried to open the donation box using a screwdriver. A sweeper who was cleaning the premises heard the noise Mr. Sheikh made while trying to open the box and entered the pandal to investigate. When Mr. Sheikh saw the sweeper, he grabbed the box and started running.

The sweeper raised an alarm and chased Mr. Sheikh along with some bystanders. The commotion attracted the attention of Manjit Singh, a taxi driver who had parked his vehicle at a petrol pump near the pandal. Mr. Singh said, “I saw a young boy running with a donation box and being chased by a few people. When he came close to me, I caught him.”

Police Inspector Nalini Shinde and Police Sub Inspector Santosh Patil, who were patrolling the area, took Mr. Sheikh into custody. “We took the accused to the police station, arrested him and charged him with theft.”

Mr. Sheikh, a Class IX student and resident of Vashi Naka in Chembur, had come to stay with his maternal uncle and grandmother in Kismat Nagar for Moharram. Riyazul Sheikh, Mr. Sheikh’s uncle, said, “Aftab has never done anything like this before. We don’t know why the police are being so strict. They could have released him with a warning as he is a first-time offender.”

Mr. Patil said, “The box contained only Rs. 160, but releasing him with only a warning might have encouraged him to commit more similar offences.”