AHMEDABAD: Greed, glamour and Instagram bravado helped crack an Rs 11 lakh theft case in Gujarat’s Surat city, where three men who initially set out to steal copper wire ended up looting cash, splurging in Mumbai and exposing themselves through CCTV footage and a reckless social media post.
What began as a small-time plan to steal copper wire turned into a film-style crime spree, ending just as dramatically, with Surat City Police unmasking the culprits behind the Rs 11.70 lakh theft at Easton Engineering Company in Udhana. The breakthrough came not only from CCTV footage but also from a single Instagram post that screamed excess and carelessness.
On December 30, the accused cut open the factory grill and slipped inside under the cover of darkness. Their original target was copper wire they could quietly sell. Inside the premises, however, they stumbled upon bundles of cash totalling more than Rs 11 lakh. The sight, police said, made them “lose their senses”.
Investigators said the two main accused, Shubham alias Nepali and Deepak alias Kalia, were so poorly educated that they could not even count the notes. Faced with a large amount of currency, they abandoned caution, blindly dividing the bundles among themselves before fleeing.
CCTV cameras captured their entry and exit, providing investigators with a crucial lead. “They were clearly seen cutting the grill and entering the factory,” a police officer said, adding that surveillance footage formed the backbone of the investigation.
In an attempt to outsmart the police, Deepak resorted to a cinematic escape tactic. With construction work underway at his house, he buried lakhs of rupees inside a heap of sand lying outside. The plan collapsed quickly. “We recovered the cash exactly from where it was hidden,” police said, describing the move as “straight out of a movie but poorly executed”.
The biggest blunder, however, came from the third accused, Anand alias Lucky. Flush with stolen cash, he posed with the money, clicked a photograph and uploaded it on Instagram with the caption: “Going to Bombay.” The post provided police with a direct clue about where the accused were headed and how they were spending the loot.
With caution thrown to the wind, the trio fled to Mumbai, where they allegedly splurged thousands of rupees on dancers at a popular bar. “They forgot one thing, the police don’t forget,” an officer remarked.
The indulgence did not stop there. Shubham Nepali booked a luxury hotel room costing Rs 11,000 per night and even purchased an expensive camera to take photographs of himself, leaving an even clearer trail for investigators.
Piecing together CCTV footage, digital footprints and local intelligence, police conducted raids and arrested all three accused, Shubham alias Nepali, Deepak alias Kalia and Anand alias Lucky. During the operation, Rs 6.05 lakh in cash was recovered, including the money buried in sand.
Police officials said the case stands as a stark reminder of how greed and social media showmanship can unravel even the simplest crime. “They planned a theft,” an officer summed up, “but advertised their arrest themselves.”