A 32-year-old man was arrested within hours on Wednesday, November 4, after allegedly breaking through a shop wall in Dholka, in Gujarat's Ahmedabad district, to steal firecrackers worth Rs 11.23 lakh from a sealed premises, IANS reported, citing police. The Dholka Town Police arrested the accused, identified as Pankajbhai Rana, within hours of receiving a tip-off about the theft.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

Rana had allegedly rented the adjoining Shop No. F/A/3 at Shree Ram Market in Dholka and used a hammer to make a hole in the common wall separating it from the sealed Shop No. F/A/2, before entering the sealed premises and allegedly stealing 387 cartons of firecrackers, according to police. The stolen stock, comprising different varieties manufactured by various companies, was valued at Rs 11,23,210, police said.

Source: Nation Press (IANS)

The premises had been sealed and its stock seized in connection with an earlier case registered at Dholka Town Police Station under Sections 125 and 288 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Sections 9B(1-B) and 12 of the Explosives Act, 1884, police said. The theft was therefore allegedly committed on stock that was already in official custody in the sealed shop.

Source: IANS via hi INDiA

The theft came to light after Head Constable Hasmukhbhai Hemubhai, posted at the Sindhi Gate Police Chowky, received a specific tip-off about the incident along with other personnel, and the Dholka Town Police made the arrest within hours of receiving the intelligence, according to the police account carried by Nation Press.

Source: Nation Press (IANS)

A fresh First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Rana under Sections 305(A), 331(3) and 331(4) of the BNS, covering offences related to theft and house-breaking, police said. Police said the investigation forms part of a broader drive ordered by senior officers to curb property-related offences ahead of Diwali. The allegations against the accused are yet to be tested in court.

Source: Nation Press (IANS)