That movies are an inspiration for criminals is well known, but some movies such as the Dhoom series are more influential than others.
Three men, who allegedly stole 16 antique Pashmina shawls worth Rs two crore from the National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum in Lutyens in Delhi were reportedly inspired by the popular Bollywood film Dhoom 2. The trio have been arrested, police said on Friday.
The accused—Vinay Parmar (28), Tarun Harvodiya (25) and M Adil Sheikh (40)—took advantage of the nonfunctional CCTV cameras at the museum and carried out the theft, they added. Sheikh was arrested on Thursday from southeast Delhi, while the other two were arrested in Kolkata two weeks back, the police said.
On October 31, D Rama Krishna Rao, administration and security officer of the museum, filed a police complaint alleging 16 antique Pashmina shawls were stolen when the museum was closed.
These shawls were brought from Kashmir and were about 200-250 years old, the police said.
The accused had already carried out a recce and found that the CCTV cameras were not functioning. Two people had been regularly visiting the museum, posing as scholars researching on antiques, the police said.
On October 22, one of them had hid himself in the museum and after over an hour later, the suspect had raised an alarm that he was stuck inside the museum, they said.
After he was rescued, he told his accomplices that the CCTVs were not functional in the museum, the police said.
It was found that Parmar's phone was active on October 29 in the area surrounding the museum and he was in touch with his accomplices and various calls were exchanged between them.
It was found that the cell phones of the accused were active in Kolkata, they said.
A police team departed for Kolkata and Parmar and Harvodiya were arrested on November 13. Fifteen shawls were recovered from the house of Parmar's in-laws in Kolkata.
Subsequently, the third accused, Sheikh, was arrested on Thursday from southeast Delhi's Okhla and a shawl was recovered from him, they said.
During interrogation, they disclosed that they were inspired by a scene in Dhoom 2 in which actor Hrithik Roshan commits theft of antique items from a museum, B.K. Singh, deputy commissioner of Police (New Delhi), said.
Parmar was fluent in French and German and had visited France, Germany and China. He had good knowledge about antiques and their importance, he added.
Sheikh works as an exporter and a vendor of the Central Cotton Industries (CCI).
Bank targeted a decade ago
This is not the first well-documented case of crime inspired by a Dhoom movie. In late 2007, a gang of four robbers drilled through the floor of a bank in Malappuram, Kerala, and took off with cash and gold worth over Rs 8 crore. The gang, which was caught a few months later, claimed they were inspired by a similar scene in the first installment, Dhoom.
