Car thieves broke into the windows of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's neighbour's car and tried to steal the car stereo in vain, even as nearly 300 Mumbai Police cops keep a 24x7 vigil around the ageing patriarch's house, reports Mumbai Mirror.
Police officials are baffled as to how the thieves broke into the security ring put around Matoshree, Bal Thackeray's residence. Sameer Shirodkar, next door neighbour to Bal Thackeray, had his car burgled on Wednesday night.
Shirodkar's ‘Prakash' bungalow is adjacent to Thackeray's ‘Matoshree' at Kala Nagar. He found that someone had broken into his car during the previous night.
“While the thief was unable to steal my music system due to a special locking system, he apparently rummaged through the entire vehicle before leaving with a perfume bottle. It would have taken him at least 20 minutes to do this,” Shirodkar said.
The 31-year-old architect reported the matter to the Kherwadi Police Station, which quickly despatched fingerprint experts and sleuths to investigate the matter.
“There are around 300 cops - including the city police, personnel of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), and the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) - guarding this place. A thief walking into the area and breaking open a car is very embarrassing for us. Moreover, Shirodkar's bungalow is right besides Matoshree,” said a senior police officer.
Prakash bungalow stands right behind Matoshree - and at any point of time, there are at least 50 security men guarding its rear gate.
“If the thief could come up till this point and break open my car without being intercepted, then Thackeray's security arrangements needs to be reviewed,” Shirodkar said.
“Instead of the thief, it could have been a terrorist who could have jumped a wall and gone into Matoshree,” he added.
DCP Rajendra Dabhade said that he would personally look into the matter. “I will make sure that we do a thorough review of the situation,” he said.
We understand that the cops are solely for the protection of the Thackerays... We will discuss the issue at our next meeting and decide on whether to appoint our own security - Arun Naik, chairman of Kala Nagar Co-operative Housing Society, which has 38 bungalow plots
What is the point of having so many cops if they cannot even keep an eye on random elements roaming around the area? - a local resident, who did not wish to be named
