Mumbai: Influencer takes to burglaries to fund lavish lifestyle & addiction | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: A social media influencer who once had 10 lakh followers has been arrested for Rs 3.3 lakh burglary at a flat of a water purifier distributor in Saki Naka on September 5 night. Police traced accused Abhimanyu Gupta (31), a TikToker, to Ranchi on Thursday night and recovered the entire stolen booty.
Influencer Gupta is a repeat offender and is involved in at least 13 other cases of burglary registered across Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Thane over the last four years. “Gupta has gone to jail in at least seven cases and has committed a theft every time right after getting released,” said the Saki Naka police.
After the break-ins, Gupta would take a flight to either Goa or Ranchi to splurge in casinos; cops said he is addicted to gambling. Police said Gupta commits burglaries to spend on his girlfriend and fund his casino visits and extravagant lifestyle that involves buying branded clothes, a bike, and visiting upscale restaurants. He conducts a recce of the locality before breaking in. “He was identified through technical assistance after his latest house break-in at the flat of Saki Naka-resident Mohammed Shaikh,” said DCP (Zone X) Datta Nalawade.
Gupta was identified after a police team comprising senior inspector Gabaji Chimte, inspector Yogesh Shinde, sub-inspector Ravindra Nangre and others scanned the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in the locality and spotted him moving out of the building after the burglary. “He has a unique style of stealing. He would wear a cap and cover his face with a mask before committing thefts. The modus operandi also matches his past crime records which helped us track him to Ranchi, where he went after the Saki Naka burglary,” said police. Gupta’s luck ran out after he broke into Shaikh’s flat and made away with gold ornaments. This time, he took a flight to Ranchi after the theft to meet his girlfriend. The burglary came to light after Shaikh returned home from a party on September 6 morning.
Gupta was arrested by the VB Nagar police in May 2022, for stealing 26 grams of gold and 1.5 kilograms of silver. Although cops had scanned more than 150 CCTV footage even then, they initially failed to establish his identity as he was wearing a cap and face mask. However, at one point he removed his cap and mask and was identified as TikToker Gupta.
Gupta was sent to judicial custody on Friday.