Man who posed as gas service agent arrested for robbery in Navi Mumbai

The Khandeshwar police have arrested a 47-year-old man who robbed from residential apartments while posing as a gas service agent. The police had been on the hunt for the accused since January after he was caught in a CCTV footage.

Pramod Mayekar is unemployed and has been staying in a slum in Wadala. In January, Mayekar went to an apartment in Khanda Colony posing as an employee of a popular gas agency.

“Once at home, the accused asked for their documents and when the women of the house went to fetch the gas card, the accused stole whatever he could lay his hands on,” said Vaibhavkumar Ronge, sub-inspector of Khandeshwar police station.

In the incident of January, Mayekar stole a 15-gram gold mangalsutra from a house and fled. While a case was registered against an unknown person, the police eventually traced him in Mumbai and arrested him two weeks ago.

While in custody, Mayekar allegedly confessed to committing similar offences in Bhoiwada in Mumbai. Police also recovered 33 grams of gold and two phones he stole from Shivaji Park in Dadar and solved two cases with his arrest.

Mayekar has at least five cases of theft and three cases of cheating against him, most of them registered in Mumbai. Mayekar was also arrested previously in Mira-Bhayander and Navi Mumbai in the past in theft cases.